2nd unit of Kameng Hydro-electric Project of NEEPCO commissioned

• The first unit of the Kameng Hydro-electric Project of NEEPCO was commissioned in June

• With the opeationalisation of the second unit, there are two more units at the project that are yet to be functional

New Delhi: State-run NTPC Limited has said that the second unit of Kameng Hydro-electric Project of its subsidiary company NEEPCO has been commissioned, taking the generation capacity of the project to 300 MW. In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, NTPC said, "In line with the Corporate Disclosure requirements, we wish to inform that Unit-2 of 150 MW of Kameng Hydro-Electric Project (4×150 MW) of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary company of NTPC Limited) is declared on commercial operation wef 00:00 Hrs. of 01.07.2020."

First unit of Kameng Hydro-electric Project was commissioned in June

The first unit of the Kameng Hydro-electric Project of NEEPCO was commissioned in June. And with the opeationalisation of the second unit, there are two more units at the project that are yet to be functional. The project is expected to be operationalised in the current financial year. With this, the commercial capacity of NTPC Group has become 62,086 MW.

Situated in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, the Kameng Hydro-electric Project is a run-of-the river scheme which utilises the flows from Bichom and Tenga Rivers (both tributaries of the River Kameng) over a gross head of 536 metre available in downstream of the confluence of the River Bichom with Kameng. The project comprises of two dams — Bichom and Tenga — and water is transported through a Head Race Tunnel (HRT) and HPT / Penstock into the Kimi Power House for driving four vertical frances turbines of 150 MW each. The design energy of the project is 3,353 MU in 90 percent dependable year with 95 percent machine availability.

The backdrop

The CCEA (Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs) clearance for the project was obtained in December 2004 for a project cost Rs 2,496.90 crore with the time of completion of five years. "However, owing to a range of factors, beyond the control of NEEPCO, major design change of primary structures, geological surprises, devastating flash floods, contractual issues, law and order problems etc, the commissioning of the project was delayed," said NEEPCO about the project.

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