JP Power's first unit of 1,000 mw project in HP to go on stream in Mar

NEW DELHI: Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited will commission the first unit of its 1,000 mw hydroelectric power project in Himachal Pradesh in March, six months ahead of schedule.

The first unit of the Rs 7,000-crore Karcham-Wangtoo hydro project, the biggest hydropower plant to be commissioned in the current five-year plan, will start generating 250 mw of electricity by March, and the other three would start functioning by June, Suren Jain, managing director of the company said.

Early commissioning of the project would help the company make use of the summer and monsoon period, when higher flow of water boosts hydroelectric generation, company officials said. This will be the third hydroelectric project of Jaiprakash Power Ventures, part of the Jaypee Group.

It had earlier built 300 MW Baspa project in Himachal Pradesh and 400MW Vishnuprayag project in Uttarakhand. Jaiprakash Power Ventures has tied up with Power Trading Corporation of India to sell 80% of the electricity produced at the Karcham-Wangtoo project.

Jain said the project would generate 3.5 million carbon credits every year.

"We are getting a 25% return on equity on a sustainable basis,” Jain said. After having established a presence in the hydropower sector the company has initiated its entry into thermal power generation, power transmission and also forayed into wind power.
The company plans to spend about Rs 45,000 crore by 2015 on various power projects including hydropower and thermal electricity, Mr Jain said. He said the company had adequate funds for its ongoing projects this year but it may raise up to Rs 2,500 crore after March 2012 for its expansion plans. The company aims to produce 13,720MW of electricity by 2019 through a mix of hydro and thermal projects.

It plans to set up four thermal plants, two each in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh by 2015. These plants will together generate 6,120 mw of power using super-critical technology.