After nine years, this band of engineers anchor a power dream

Seven engineer friends have joined hands to launch a small hydel power project in Idukki. The project at Chathurakkallippara generates 4 MW which is connected to the KSEB grid. Their company will also provide 10,000 units a month to Adimali Taluk Hospital free of cost

A view of the Mukkudam small hydro power project in Idukki | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRNAGEMENT

Continuing their friendship from their college days, this band of seven engineers have joined hands to launch a 4 Mega Watt (MW) small hydel power project in Idukki.

Their efforts of nine years have yielded fruit with the project going on stream last week.

Rakesh Roy, Faris E.M., Nitish S.J., Renjini M., Unni S. Sankar, Cyriac Jose, and Rijo Joseph were classmates in the 2006 batch at the Federal Institute of Science And Technology at Angamaly.

“In 2014 I was working in Bengaluru when I read in papers that power projects can be taken up by private groups. I shared this idea with my friends and we formed a company Mukkudam Electro Energy Private Limited,”  says Rakesh Roy, a resident of Kambilikandam in the district. 

Rakesh, Chief Managing Director of the company, says in 2015 a proposal for a 1 MW project was submitted for which the government granted permission in 2018. “From 2016, we monitored water availability in the area and found that a 4 MW project was more suitable. We submitted a revised project and got approval in 2021.”

“Construction began in February 2021 and was over in October 2023. The project uses water from Parathode, which joins the Muthirapuzha river at Adimali. A dam, 10-metre-high and 29.4-metre in length, was set up at Chathurakkallippara. Water reaches the powerhouse through a 1.31-km-long penstock,” he says.

A view of the Mukkudam small hydro power project in Idukki | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“Two turbines generate 4 MW a day, and the project is connected to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) grid of the Neriamangalam powerhouse. The expected power generation of the project is 11 million units a year. The total cost of the project is ₹31 crore,“ says Rakesh.

He says the company will provide 10,000 units a month to the Adimali Taluk Hospital free of cost. “We hope it will help meet the major share of power requirements of the hospital. We have submitted a letter to the Idukki Collector in this regard,” he says.

“I have a personal attachment with the Adimali hospital. My father and grandfather had there,” he says.

Adimali hospital superintendent Sunil A. Kumar says the average electricity use of the hospital a month is 18,356 units and the bill comes around ₹1.50 lakh. “It is a positive decision to provide power to the hospital,“ he says.

KSEB executive engineer Santhosh T. Abraham says the KSEB has signed a contract with the group and connected the power to the KSEB grid and will provide payment “Before connecting the power, the KSEB will synchronise voltage and frequency of the power equal to KSEB line,” he says.