J&K state owned profit earning Power Development Corporation is awarding five projects to independent power producers, two of them state subjects, to add 131 MW to its kitty. It will lead to an investment of Rs 1048 crore in some of the remote belts of the state. R S Gull offers details of the projects and the companies that would implement them.
After making corrections in the state’s power policy especially for the smaller projects to be implemented through the independent power producers (IPP), the State Power Development Corporation (SPDC) started the process for implementing 10 projects. In the first stage, it was to seek request for qualification (RFQ) to assess the interested companies. There were 61 proposals for 10 projects. But when they were assessed on various parameters, 25 bidders failed to meet qualification criteria.
Five of the ten projects in which less than three parties showed their interest were not processed as it was decided by the SPDC board that they will be re-tendered. In the second stage, SPDC sought RFQ from the qualifiers for the five projects only. As the proposals were submitted, the consultant, Pricewaterhousecooper (PwC), started evaluating the bids. After a series of evaluations envisaging studying non-financial bids and seeking clarifications on various issues, 17 bids were finally opened in September. The bids were evaluated for three parameters – free power that the SPDC would get, the terminal price of the project at the end of the 35 years when the state will take over it and finally, the levellized tariff at which the IPP would sell its generation to the SPDC.
Final exercise was to evaluate the Net Present Value (NPV) for the project computed on basis of the basic parameters to offer the total net outflow for the actual owner, the SPDC. The higher the value, the costlier the deal. Companies whose financial bids offered the higher negative value became the L1, the successful bidder. The orders for the five allotments stand approved already and are being formally issued to the successful bidders this week. Here is the brief profile of the projects and the companies that would be implementing them across the state.
45 MW BICHLARI PROJECT
Bagged by M/S DIPL Netcom Power Consortium, a state subject, for a NPV of Rs 61.16 crore, the SPDC would get 15.01 percent free power. At the time of its transfer to the SPDC after 35 years, the IPP would also pay Rs 1 crore to the corporation. Levellized tariff that was computed on the basis of tariff stream quoted by bidders over 35 years would be Rs 2.89 per unit of energy that the SPDC would purchase. All bidders have to ink the power purchase agreement with the SPDC under the new IPP policy as there is no flexibility of having any other buyer.
Bichilari is a spot around 20 kms from Ramban where the local rivulet, a tributary of Chenab, that joins it at Harsala village. The project envisages harnessing the rivulet to produce 45-MW clean energy. It envisages a weir (with a water level of 1290 meters) across the rivulet just downstream of confluence point at Banihal and Mahumangat nallah, and surface power house with three units of 15 MW each near Digdol village, almost 8.76 km downstream of the diversion structure on its left bank.
An 8.76 km long head race D-shaped tunnel would take 10.78 cubic meters per second of water and pass through 2.2 meter diameter penstocks to feed three vertical axis pelton turbines working under a rated head of 462.6 meters. After generating power, a 150 meter tail race channel would return water to the river. The project would require around 25 hectares of land including around five hectares of forest land. To be ready within next five years, the project would cost around Rs 360 crore at the current price level.
Officials in the SPDC said that given the submergence level of the proposed 695 MW Sawalkote project, there is a possibility of increasing the Bichlari’s power potential. This, however, would require a new study that might suggest extending tunnel by a few kilometers and relocating the power station. Right now, however, that is no priority.
40 MW ANS PROJECT
Of the five contenders, bids by one company were rejected for crippling technical reasons. From the remaining three, the bid by M/S Sri Avantika Consortium was evaluated as the best one. Its NPV was evaluated to be Rs -7.88 crore. It was based on the offers that apart from offering 15% of generation —
