NHPC Set to Complete Uri-II Project by October 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (New Delhi, India)--Following a settlement of a long-running employment dispute at the 240-megawatt (MW) Uri-II Hydroelectric Project in the Kashmir Valley, India's state-run NHPC Limited (BSE:533098) (Faridabad, Haryana) is now gearing up to complete the project by October 2012. The execution of the project recently almost came to a stand-still, due to a major disruption in work caused by residents who demanded that the project employ local youths.

To break the logjam, NHPC agreed to engage all class C- and D-grade employees from villages falling within 5 kilometers radius of the project site. NHPC also has agreed to bear the expenses for training local residents in the state's industrial training institutes.

Besides this impasse, the hydropower project, which is being developed in the Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir, has been hit by various natural catastrophes--including heavy rain, flash floods, landslides and earthquakes--ever since its inception. Construction of the concrete gravity dam for the project was severely affected by a major earthquake that hit the Kashmir Valley on October 8, 2005. As per the original schedule, the project was slated to be commissioned during the 2009-10 financial year, but various deterring factors, such as geological surprises, natural calamities and law-and-order problems, have stymied progress.

Notably, heavy rainfall and a flash flood at the project area in May 2010 caused a severe breach in the upstream and downstream coffer dams. Excessive rain during the subsequent monsoon hampered the restoration of the dam, affecting the execution of hydro-mechanical work. Further, civil disturbances led to the imposition of a curfew in Jammu & Kashmir, affecting supplies of construction material to the project, causing a delay in the execution.

The 240-megawatt (MW) project involves the construction of a 52-meter-high, concrete gravity dam with four spillways that are 4 meters each; a 4.23-kilometer-long, 8.4-meter-diameter head-race tunnel; a 25-meter-diameter, restricted orifice-type surge shaft; a 3.61-meter tail race tunnel; and an underground power house that will accommodate four generator units of 60 MW each. The project is likely to afford an annual energy generation of 1.12 billion units, assuming a 90% performance by the plant.

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