960 mega watt Polavaram hydel power plant works gain steam

The Indian Express | May 02, 2021

The contracting agency and authorities have targeted to complete all the foundation works of the power project by May 31, according to the plan.

VIJAYAWADA:  With AP Power Generation Company (APGENCO) Ltd issuing the letter of award (LoA) for the execution of Polavaram hydroelectric power plant to Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) a few weeks ago, the authorities have chalked out a strategy to complete the works of the 960-mega watt (MW) hydel power station in time. The contracting agency and authorities have targeted to complete all the foundation works of the power project by May 31, according to the plan.

Out of the 118.2 lakh cubic metres of foundation works, about 110 lakh cubic metres of excavation works have been completed and plans are afoot to conclude the remaining by the end of this month.  The hydel power plant, which will have 12 units of 80 MW each once complete, cleared all the legal tangles, which arose from the state government’s decision to cancel the awarded contract and go for re-tendering, in December, 2020. “After clearing the legal hurdles, the LOA of contract has been given to the contracting agency and formalities have been concluded earlier in April,” official sources said.

 As per the contract, the time for execution is 58 months. However, the officials and the contracting agency are planning to complete the works at the earliest and commission the project by 2024. While irrigation component’s head works are being taken up on priority, the power station’s works are also apace.  Meanwhile, APTRANSCO is also working on establishing necessary infrastructure for evacuation of power from the powerhouse.

For the record, the power station is coming up to the left of the spillway instead of the conventional design of being adjacent to the spillway, the officials added.  Coming up in about 107 acres of area in Angaluru village in Devipatnam mandal of East Godavari district, flood water will be released from a height of 27 metres, thereby generating hydel power.

Each unit of the powerhouse, which will have vertical generators and vertical Kaplan turbines, would have 331 cumecs of water discharge capacity and can produce 2,308.41 million units of power. A total of 24 gates with 12 intake gates, three stop log gates and 12 pressure tunnels are to be constructed.

The water reaches the power house via intake from the approach channel and following power generation it would flow back into River Godavari through the tail race channel. In the last week of December, 2020, BHEL bagged the electro mechanical works from MEIL. The scope of E and M works include manufacture and supply of hydro Kaplan turbines.