Bhubaneswar, July 21: The Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) in collaboration with the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) will set up three power units in the Mahanadi river basin to produce 320MW of power. The two government undertakings today formalised an agreement in this regard.

Though the state government has concluded 29 MoUs to set up thermal power units in the state in public private partnership (PPP) mode, the agreement with the NHPC is to have a joint venture project. In the recent past, the government had not explored the hydro potential in a major way.

The three projects — Sindo I, II and III — will come up in the districts of Sambalpur, Sonepur and Boudh, respectively. The first and second unit will produce 100MW each and the third unit will produce 120MW. The tripartite agreement was signed by state’s energy secretary G. Mathivathanan, OHPC managing director Sahadev Khatua and chairman-cum-managing director of NHPC A.B.L. Srivastav.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik said: “The joint venture company will produce green, clean and cheap energy. It will bring in the latest technology and modern management practices to set up new benchmarks in terms of performance in the hydro power sector.”

Nearly Rs 2,600 crore will be invested in the hydro power project. The project envisages a generation capacity of 1,090MU (million units) having an installed capacity of 320MW. These projects are likely to be commissioned by 2016.

At present, the state’s hydro power generation capacity stands at 2,140MW. Out of it, the OHPC production capacity stands at 2,085MW and the private units production capacity stands at 57MW. However, the state manages to produce only 900MW to 1,000MW units of hydro power due to erratic rainfall.

Of the six hydro power units, Burla, with an installation capacity of 276 units, is now producing 110MW. Chiplima power station is producing 50MW out of its install capacity of 72MW, Balimela 230MW out of its capacity of 510MW, Rengali 150MW out its capacity of 250MW. The Upper Kolab unit is producing 100MW out of its capacity of 320MW and Upper Indrabati 250MW out of its capacity of 600MW.

Energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said it had been proposed to construct a barrage on the Mahanadi river to utilise the surplus water of the Hirakud reservoir for production of electricity in the Sindol project. “There will be no case of displacement in the proposed project. The project will be completed in time,” Nayak said.

Chief secretary Bijay Patnaik said: “As per the arrangement, the NHPC and the OHPC will have a stake of 51 and 49 per cent. Entire power generated by the new units will be supplied to the state. Orissa will get 12 per cent power free of cost. The amount generated by one per cent of power by the project will be spent on peripheral development. The remaining power will be sold.”