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It's official now. The power evacuation facility for the ONGC's 727 MW gas-based power station in Tripura will not be ready on time.
The Rs 3,500-crore generation facility including two units of 363.3 MW each of ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) is scheduled to be on stream by March 2012. However, even the most optimistic assessments suggest that the Rs 1,800-crore transmission line – implemented by North-East Power Transmission Company (NEPTC) – will not be ready before July 2012.
According to Mr S.K. Dubey, Managing Director of OTPC, the first phase of the 400-kV double-circuit transmission facility from Palatana in Tripura to Silchar in Assam will be ready by December this year, just on time with the targeted date of commissioning of the first 363.3 MW unit on December 22, 2011. The Palatana-Silchar segment will be evacuating the entire generation of the first OTPC unit.
Challenging stretch
“The 246-km of Palatana-Silchar facility is reportedly 50 per cent complete and we are expecting it to be operational in December,” Mr Dubey said. He, however, added that the nearly 415-km-long Silchar-Bongaigaon transmission project was running behind schedule and is unlikely to be completed before July 2012.
“This is the most challenging stretch of the project where transmission line will cross three rivers including the mighty Brahmaputra. Also, NEPTC did not get the requisite forest clearances from Assam and Meghalaya State Governments, which is a prerequisite to get the clearances from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests,” he said.
The second phase will pass through nearly 47 km of forest in Meghalaya (25 km) and Assam (22 km). According to OTPC, the transmission segment was grossly delayed due to complications involved in setting up (three) towers over Brahmaputra.
“The foundations laid last year were washed away. Accordingly, they (NEPTC) had to redesign the project,” Mr Dubey said. In the new scheme of things, Gammon India is the contractor for the segment.
Differing views
Sources associated with the transmission project, however, are not as optimistic as Mr Dubey. According to the available information, the project will pass through the longest stretch of 81 km of forest in Tripura. Earlier, the State Government granted a stage-II approval for the same. However, NEPTC had recently submitted a revised route plan which is yet to be approved by the State Government. Once the State approval is available, the company may apply for forest clearances from the Centre.
According to sources, against a total of 675 towers to be built on the Palatana-Silchar stretch only 261 were ready till March 31. Moreover, with approaching monsoon (which is particularly heavy in North Eastern States) the construction will hit a slow track between June-October period, leaving a mere two-month window to complete the first leg of the transmission project.
Completing the next phase by July 2012 will be an even more uphill task. Over and above the technical issues, Assam and Meghalaya have not yet granted the stage-II forest clearances.
“Ideally, work on the transmission project should start first. However, in this case implementation of the transmission line began much later,” a source added.
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