page_title: Ujjani Dam
section_title: Hydropower
hierarchical_section_title: Ujjani Dam / Hydropower
caption_attribution_description: English: Pumped storage Powerhouse of 12 MW capacity
context_page_description: Ujjani Dam, also known as Bhima Dam or Bhima Irrigation Project, on the Bhima River, a tributary of the Krishna River, is an earthfill cum Masonry gravity dam located near Ujjani village of Madha Taluk in Solapur district of the state of Maharashtra in India.
  The Bhima River, which originates in Bhimashankar of the Western Ghats, and forms the Bhima Valley with its tributary rivers and streams, has twenty-two dams built on it of which the Ujjani Dam is the terminal dam on the river and is the largest in the valley that intercepts a catchment area of 14,858 km². The construction of the dam project including the canal system on both banks was started in 1969 at an initial estimated cost of Rs 400 million and when completed in June 1980 the cost incurred was of the order of Rs 3295.85 million.
  The reservoir created by the 56.4 m high earth cum concrete gravity dam on the Bhima River has a gross storage capacity of 3.320 km³. The annual utilization is 2.410 km³. The project provides multipurpose benefits of irrigation, hydroelectric power, drinking and industrial water supply and fisheries development.
context_section_description: A pumped storage type powerhouse has been built at the toe of the dam with an installed capacity of 12 MW (one unit of vertical Francis-reversible pump turbine) on the left bank of the dam, 65 m (213 ft) downstream from the axis of the dam. It operates under 20 percent load factor under a range of maximum head of 36.77 m (120.6 ft) and minimum head of 25.6 m (84 ft). The hydropower component involved construction of a 13.42 m (44.0 ft) high weir, 915 m (3,002 ft) below the Ujjani Dam to control the lower pond for operation during the pumping mode. A penstock pipe of 3.2 m (10 ft) diameter (12 mm (0.47 in) thick) and 70 m (230 ft) length embedded in the dam diverts the flow of 44 m³/s (1,600 cu ft/s) from a gate controlled trash racks (15 panels) covered intake into the powerhouse. The lower pond in the pumped storage scheme of operation was built initially itself, soon after commissioning of the dam. The power plant is reported to be providing benefits since then. However, the power generation estimated initially at 105 GWh was expected to reduce to 21 GWh, as water was utilized for irrigation through the RBC and LBC canal systems.
  During the drought year 2015, the inflows into the reservoir were very meagre due to failure of rains in the catchment area. However nearly 36 tmcft dead storage water available in the reservoir could not be used for the dire needs. With minor external modifications to the exiting reversible hydro turbine unit, all the dead storage water can be put to use during the drought years by using the hydro power plant for pumping water into the nearby left canal. Water would be released downstream into the tail pond over the spillway (if needed by siphon pipes). The pen stock of the hydro power unit is extended (less than 100 m long) to connect to the nearby left canal. The hydro power unit is operated in pumping mode to pump water from the tail pond to the left canal when the reservoir level is below the canal's minimum draw down level (MDDL). The pen stock extension piping is detached when water pumping to the canal is not required to restore its normal power generation when the reservoir level is above the left canal's MDDL
caption: The 12 MW pumped storage powerhouse at the toe of the dam on the left bank
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