The Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) and the National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC), which had forged a joint venture for taking up 12 hydel power projects in the state, will undertake three hydel projects with a cumulative capacity of 300 MW in the first phase.
All the three hydel power projects will come up on Mahanadi river and they included Sindol-I with a capacity of 90 MW at Deogaon; 90 MW Sindol-II at Kapasira in Sonepur district and the 120 MW Sindol-III at Godhaneswar, aslo in Sonepur district.
The sites for the hydel projects have been identified by an inter-departmental technical coordination committee consisting of the members of energy and water resources department, said state energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.
Sources said, the draft joint venture proposal sent by NHPC to the Orissa government has been approved and the power company is set to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government soon.
Initially, 12 hydel projects were identified for development on the joint venture mode. However, the number can increase or decrease after close examination during the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
The identified locations are middle Kolab, Tel integrated project, lower Bansadhara, Balijori Hydel Project, Salki Hydel Project, Khadago Dam Project, Uttei Roul Integrated Project, Mahanadi-Brahmani River Link, Baramul Hydel Project, Sindol-I, Sindol-II and Sindol-III projects
The proposed joint venture company will have 30:70 equity and debt component with NHPC holding 51 per cent equity and OHPC the remaining 49 per cent. The state government had sought 100 per cent power from these hydel projects but the final decision in this regard will be taken by the Union ministry of power.