OIPL to conduct bidding for Odisha UMPP

Gridco has been appointed as the lead utility among all the utilities which will be allocated power from the Bhedabhal UMPP

The Odisha Integrated Power Ltd (OIPL), a fully owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), will conduct the bidding process for selecting the developer for the first 4000 Mw ultra mega power plant (UMPP) proposed at Bhedabahal in Sundargarh district.

OIPL, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed for implementing the UMPP, has been authorized by the Odisha government to take all necessary decision that may be required for selection of the developer. The decisions are to be taken by the SPV in accordance with the 'Guidelines for Determination of Tariff by Bidding Process for Procurement of Power by Distribution Licensees', issued by the Union power ministry under Electricity Act-2003.

State owned power trading firm Gridco Ltd has been appointed as the lead utility among all the utilities which will be allocated power from the Bhedabhal UMPP. As the lead utility, Gridco will discharge the obligations on behalf of all the individual entities.

The Government of India recently scrapped the initial bids received from 20 power companies for setting up this UMPP since the bids were invited as per the previous standard bidding documents (SBDs). With the new SBDs finalized now, fresh bids for the Bhedabhal UMPP are expected to be invited in a week. Bigwigs in the power sector like NTPC, Tata Power, Adani Power, JSW Energy and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) have evinced interest in developing the UMPP.

The UMPP needs 3100 acres of land in all. Odisha would get 1300 MW as its share from this project. Water for this UMPP has been allocated from the Ib river and check dams and barrages would be put up on the river for this purpose.

It may be noted that Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks have been allotted for the UMPP with a total reserve of 880 million tonnes.

Notification under Section 6 (1) of Land Acquisition Act has been issued for acquisition of private land totalling to 2732.56 acres in six villages in Sundargarh district.

Two more UMPPs are set to come up in Odisha. It has been decided to set up the second UMPP at Bijoypatna in Chandbali tehsil of Bhadrak district and third UMPP at Narla under Kesinga sub-division in Kalahandi district. The sites have been selected after field visits by PFC.

Two subsidiaries- Sakhigopal Integrated Power Company Ltd and Ghogarpalli Integrated Power Company Ltd- have been formed by PFC for executing these two UMPPs. The second and third UMPPs would contribute 2000 MW each to the state grid.