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| SJVN to increase Nepal hydel project's capacity to 800 Mw |
| Sudheer Pal Singh / New Delhi Aug 21, 2009, 01:03 IST |
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Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN), the state-owned hydropower producer, is planning to almost double the generation capacity of its 402-Mw Arun-III hydro electric project in Nepal to 800 Mw. The move is a part of the PSU’s plan to expand its generation capacity ahead of the proposed 10 per cent stake sale by the government in the company.
“We are reviving the Arun-III project by doubling its capacity to 800 Mw now. We are in the final stages of preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The construction of the project would begin in two years,” said H K Sharma, chairman and managing director of the company.
SJVN was the first government-owned power PSU to bag a power project in Nepal through competitive bidding. The cost of setting up the project has been estimated to be over Rs 4,000 crore.
“This cost would go up now because of the upgradation, but only by 30-40 per cent,” said another official from the company.
SJVN has worked out the generation cost from the project at Rs 3.70 per unit of power and hopes to sell it at over Rs 5 per unit (1 unit is one kilo-watt hour).
“We might make more money if we are able to trade the power,” Sharma said. The project would generate power in excess of 2.8 billion units annually. The Arun-III Run-of-the-River (RoR) project was bagged by the company in March last year, outbidding nine other power developers.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Nepal government, SJVN would provide 21.9 per cent free power from the project to the neighbouring country and the balance power would flow to India. The PSU would also pay 7.5 per cent of its total income from the project as royalty to the Nepal government.
The project would come up on Arun river valley in Eastern Nepal. The feasibility study for the project was carried out earlier by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The power generated from the project would be evacuated by 430-km, 220-kV double-circuit power transmission line to Kathmandu via Duhabi and Dhalkebar. The project work also includes construction of a 68-metre-high dam and a 117-km highway.
Earlier this week, the Nepalese Supreme Court had quashed a writ petition filed by the private power developer Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) against the Nepal government’s decision to award the contract of Arun-III project to SJVN. In its petition filed in April last year, JSPL had questioned the bidding process for the project.
Nepal has an estimated hydro electric potential of over 80,000 Mw and a current installed hydropower generation capacity of around 400 Mw with another 430-Mw capacity under construction. India currently has a hydropower generation capacity of 40,000 Mw accounting for around 26 per cent of the overall installed generation capacity in the country.
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