The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha (GEDCOL), a subsidiary of the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), signed an agreement for formation of a Joint Venture (JV) company here recently.
The company provisionally named as “Mandira Power Corporation Limited” would instal and operate a Small Hydro Electric Power (SHEP) project at the Mandira Dam of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). Energy Secretary and GEDCOL CMD Hemant Sharma and CEO of SAIL-run RSP Aswini Kumar signed the pact at the State Secretariat.
The SAIL and the GEDCOL shall have equity partnership of 26% and 74% in the JV company. The company Board shall have six Directors, four from GEDCOL and two from RSP. The company would instal a SHEP in the toe of the Mandira Dam with a tentative installed capacity of 10 MW (three units of 3.33 MW each). The power plant would generate power by harnessing the energy potential of water released from the Mandira Dam for use downstream by the RSP.
The power plant can be installed at a comparatively low cost and in a very short period of time since a dam is already in existence. As water being released for the plant would be gainfully utilised, there shall be no impact on availability of water for the steel plant.
All the power generated at the proposed project shall be consumed by the RSP and can also be used in any other SAIL unit through an openaccess mechanism. Apart from providing cheap access to power, the project would ensure that the power so generated is treated as renewable energy and helps the RSP offset its Renewable Power Obligation (RPO). The estimated cost of the project is Rs 78.80 crore.