NHPC Adds 132 Megawatts of Capacity as Teesta Low Dam-III Begins Generation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)-- India's state-owned hydroelectric enterprise NHPC Limited (BSE:533098) (Faridabad, Haryana) has added another 132 megawatts (MW) of capacity to its installed base with the successful commercial operation of four 33-MW hydel-generation units at its Teesta Low Dam-III hydroelectric project (HEP) in West Bengal.

With the commissioning of the project, NHPC's installed generation capacity has gone up to 5,702 MW, of which 1,520 MW is generated by its subsidiary company, NHDC Limited (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh). NHPC has set a target to add 981 MW of hydropower capacity in the current financial year.

Teesta Low Dam-III is a run-of-river scheme located on the Teesta river in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. This project is estimated to generate 594.07 million units of electricity annually, assuming that there is a 90% performance by the plant. The major components of the Teesta Low Dam-III project include a 32.5-meter-high barrage across the Teesta river and a surface powerhouse to install four Kaplan turbine generator units of 33-MW capacity each.

Teesta Low Dam Project-III was entrusted to NHPC in November 2000. The project was granted Environmental Clearance in July 2003. Due to geological challenges, contractual problems and law and order issues NHPC had missed the target of commissioning the power plant within the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12). Government of West Bengal has tied up 30% of the electricity generated by the plant through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), while another 12% will be supplied free of cost to the state as the 'host-state share'.

Presently NHPC is engaged in the construction of 10 projects aggregating to a total installed capacity of 4,502 MW. NHPC has ambitious capacity-addition plans for the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2017-22). During the period it plans to construct 13 hydroelectric projects, with a cumulative capacity of about 12,411 MW. If all these projects are completed on time along with the ongoing ones, NHPC's power generation portfolio will reach close to 25,000 MW by 2022.

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