Jan 24 2011
Hagrama Mohilary, the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief, has opened the 4 MW Champamati Hayen Hydel Power Project located at Nagdalbari in Chirang District. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Pradyut Bordoloi, the Power and Industry Minister of Assam.
This project with a capital outlay of Rs 35 crore is its first hydel power project in the Northeast region constructed using the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode. The project includes two generating units of 2.025 MW capacity each. They would use 48.386 cusecs of water for generating the 2.025 MW power, which would be supplied to the Assam Power Grid via an 11 kV double circuit line, which is connected to the Kajalgaon Substation. The excess water of the Champamati River especially during peak monsoon period would be utilized for power generation.
Venkat Vani, ECI Engineering and Construction’s Managing Director, revealed that the studies conducted indicated that 14.96 million units of electricity could be generated annually. The ECI would be executing the project as a build-own-operate-transfer agreement and would hand over the project after 35 years to BTC. The ECI would supply free power not less than 25 kVA for the first 15 years of commercial operations to the Champamati Reservoir’s irrigation quarters and would also offer Rs.10 lakh for developing the area. From the onset of the 16th year, 7.5% of generated electricity would be supplied to BTC till the end of the 35th year.
This project was financed by the North Eastern Development Finance (NEDFi) based in Guwahati. The Assam Power Minister, Bordoloi, commented that the Assam State Government had policies in place for generation of power through small hydel power projects. He mentioned that there was a power deficit of 200 MW during peak hours as the demand was for 1000 MW and the supply was only 800 MW. The growth in demand for electricity in Assam was at a rate of 16%. Plans are on to meet the power shortages by constructing a 700 MW power facility at Salakati in Kokrajhar. He further disclosed that 14 small hydel units were under various stages of implementation in the State. According to him, the region would be able to look forward for enhanced development and lasting peace through the generation of electricity.
Source: http://www.bodolandcouncil.org/