Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) here on Saturday executed contract with public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited for supply and erection of its third and fourth unit of its thermal power plant at Ib Valley in Jharsuguda district.
The two units with a capacity of 660 mw each is part of OPGC’s much talked about expansion plan which was on the drawing board for long. The expansion includes development of captive coal mine and railway transportation system, besides setting up of main plant.
The contract was signed by OPGC Managing Director Venkatachalam Kuppusami and BHEL General Manager (Marketing) V. Venkatakrishnan here. State Energy Minister Arun Sahoo, Development Commissioner J. K. Mohapatra and Energy Secretary P. K. Jena were present on the occasion.
According to OPGC, the contract is worth Rs. 4,051 crore which comprises supply of the main plant (boiler, turbine and generator) at an all inclusive firm price of Rs.3,748.94 crore and erection of main plant at Rs. 302.06 crore.
The contract for ancillary and peripheral plants to the main plant will be awarded soon.
The OPGC expansion project which secured financial tie-up in November 2012 has been making steady progress and with the award of the contract will soon go into the construction phase. The plant is expected to achieve commercial operation in the 12th plan period.
“Design and engineering of equipment will take six months. After that the construction would take off,” said the OPGC MD.
He said, “we had launched international bidding for main plant. Four serious players had participated. However, BHEL gave us a very competitive pricing.”
OPGC, which is a 51:49 joint venture between Odisha government and AES Corp, USA, currently runs 2x210 MW coal based thermal power plant at Banharpali in the district of Jharsuguda.