Bhubaneswar: SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and Green Energy Development Coproration of Odisha (Gedcol), a wholly woned subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Coproration (OHPC) singned an agreement to form Mandira Power Corporation Ltd.(MPCL) as a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to set up and operate a small hydro electric power stations at Mandira Dam of RSP.
The Gedcol CMD and the Odisha government’s energy principal secretary, Hemant Sharma, and RSP CEO, Ashwini Kumar, signed the joint venture agreement at a simple ceremony held, here on February 13, 2018.
Gedcol and RSP will have equity partnership of 74% and 26% of the JV company. The Board of the JVC shall have six directors, four from Gedcol and two from RSP.
The JV Company shall install a power project in the toe of Mandira Dam with a tentative installed capacity of 10MW (3 units of 3.33 MW each) with an investment of Rs 78.80 crore . This power plant shall generate power by harnessing the energy potential of water released from Mandira Dam for use downstream by 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 shall be gainfully utilized, 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 RSP and can be used in any other unit of SAIL through open-access mechanism. Apart from providing cheap access to power the project will ensure that the power so generated shall be treated as renewable power and shall help RSP to offset its RPO or Renewable Power Obligation.
