New Delhi, May 21 (Inditop) Reliance Power, an energy generation firm in the Anil Ambani group, has signed pacts with the Arunachal Pradesh government for four hydro-electric power projects in state with a combined capacity of 2,520 MW.
“We won the projects through the competitive bidding process of the Arunachal Pradesh government. With this, we will have one of the largest portfolios of hydro power projects in the country,” a senior official in the company told IANS.
He listed the four projects as Kalai-II with 1,200 MW, Emini with 500 MW, Amulin with 420 MW and Mihundon with 400 MW. Among them, the Kalai project will come up in the Anjav river basin, while the others will be set up in Dibang Valley.
The award of projects takes Reliance Power’s total hydropower project portfolio to 4,620 MW, compared to 5,175 MW for the state-run NHPC, formerly called the National Hydroelectric Power Corp, which is the market leader.
The group’s earlier hydro projects are the Tato-II with 700 MW in Dibang Valley and the Siyom 1,000 MW project on the river by the same name. All projects are expected to be completed within the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-2017).
“The concentration of our projects in Arunachal Pradesh will facilitate consolidated infrastructure development and power evacuation,” the Reliance Power official said.
“It usually takes 10-12 years to develop hydro projects, but we have targeted completion in six-seven years.”
He said all the group’s hydroelectric power development will be run-of-the-river projects, which are not only easier to build, but also do not require large dams and are considered environment friendly.
They do not result in submergence of large stretches of land either.
The Central Electricity Authority, the sector’s regulator, has estimated the potential from 89 big hydroelectric projects in Arunachal Pradesh at 49,126 MW, while smaller ones are expected to generate another 1,600 MW.
