Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the mini hydro-electric project at Vilangad here on Monday.
Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed will preside over the inaugural function to be held at St. George High School at Vilangad at 4 p.m. while Mullappally Ramachandran, MP; E.K. Vijayan, MLA; District Panchayat President Kanathil Jameela; KSEB Chairman M. Sivasankar; and District Collector C.A. Latha will take part.
The 7.5-MW power project is situated in Narippatta and Vanimel panchayats in Vadagara taluk, and has been built on Vaniyampuzha and Kavadipuzha that are tributaries of the Mahe river.
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The work on the project, which is part of ‘Mission 676’ of the State government, was inaugurated in April 2010 by former Electricity Minister A.K. Balan.
It was proposed to be completed in March 2012, but non-availability of required land at the time and adverse climatic conditions delayed the completion of the project.
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The completed project consists of two small dams at Panoth (44.5-metre long and 7.83-metres high) and Valookku (72-metre long and 7.96-metre high), two associated canals, a fore-bay tank, Penstock, three 2.5 MW generators, and a 124-metre-long tailrace channel.
The power generated here will be taken to the Nadapuram sub-station using a 14.4-km-long, 33 KV underground cable. The project has a capacity to produce 2.26 crore unit power in a year.
The civil works of the Rs.59.49-crore project is being carried out by Kochi-based Poulose George Construction Company.
The electro-mechanical works has been carried out by Faridabad-based Flowel Energy Private Limited.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy allotted a grant of Rs.510 lakh for the project, out of which Rs.280.5 lakh has been sanctioned.
The power project will benefit the northern districts of Kerala immensely and will not cause serious damage to the environment.
The project is one of the many small and large power projects the State has planned. From various projects that are under construction, the department expects an increase of 305 MW in power generation in the State, the press release adds.