Shimla: Having obtained much expertise in executing and operating hydropower plants in tough Himalayan geologies, public sector power company SJVN plans to make it maiden foray into thermal power.
Speaking at an on campus Independence Day function, chairman-cum-managing director RP Singh, without giving any details disclosed said, “SJVN is planning to enter the thermal power sector shortly.”
He said that detailed project reports of the two hydropower projects in Bhutan were ready and SJVN would execute them under a joint venture agreement with a Bhutanese company.
The 600 MW Kholongchu project and 570 MW Wangchu project are to be executed in joint venture with Druk Green Power Corporation, Bhutan, said Singh. Detailed project reports of these projects have been submitted to Central Electricity Authority (CEA), he added.
Assigned the task of preparing pre-feasibility reports (PFRs) for hydro projects in Arunachal Pradesh, Singh said that PFRs for three projects namely, the 60 MW Rangarandi Stage-II, 378 MW Kameng-I and 80 MW Doimukh projects had been prepared in a record time of six months and had been submitted to the state authorities.
Survey and investigation works on the Si-River basin in Arunachal Pradesh was in progress, he added.
Besides hinting about entering the thermal power sector, Singh also disclosed that the company’s diversification plans into wind power would be realized by 2013 on commissioning of a 50 MW capacity plant.
SJVN operates the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydropower plant on River Satluj that is targeted with having to generate 7000 million units of electricity in a year, a target that it has surpassed in the previous two financial years.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
