What remains to be completed is the work of installation of equipment before the hydroelectric project at Barapol in the Ayyankunnu panchayat bordering Karnataka is ready for commissioning. As the civil works have already been completed, the first small hydroelectric project in the district is set to be inaugurated in the first week of February.
The Barapol hydroelectric project, as it is known, has been developed by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in strict adherence to the Supreme Court’s direction that there should be no backwater effect and no submergence and nothing that adversely affect the Rajiv Gandhi National Park located in the Kodagu on the other side of the border. The Rs.136-crore project, therefore, comprises no construction in the river.
“This is the first hydroelectric project in the State with trench weir system,” said G. Anil, Executive Engineer of the project. The project’s installed capacity is 15 MW having three units of 5 MW, he said. The project can generate 36 million units of electricity per year, he said. The project includes the construction of conduits below the riverbed for diversion of water to the power house. The other components include intake pool, power duct, de-silting tank, the power channel and three penstock pipes and three turbines with 5 MW capacity each. The project is located on the Barapole (Barapuzha) river, a tributary of the Valapattanam river.
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Mr. Anil said that a major advantage of the project is that its highest generation of power will be during monsoon season. This will be helpful to the Idukki reservoir to save water for use during summer, he said. The power generated from the hydroelectric project will be transmitted to the grid through the 110-kV substation at Iritty. He also said that the project generates an additional 3 MW of solar power as solar panels are being laid over the three-km long canal from the river. As the project is located on a site ideal for developing eco-tourism, the hydel tourism wing of the KSEB is planning to develop some amenities there to draw tourists.