NHPC to provide consultancy services for Bhutan hydropower project

National Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC) will provide engineering consultancy services to the Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project (720 MW) in Bhutan.

NHPC will receive a total of Rs11.67 crore in consultancy fees.

NHPC signed an agreement with the department of energy, Royal government of Bhutan, for providing engineering and consultancy services relating to pre-construction activities of Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project (720 MW) in Bhutan, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

S K Garg, CMD of NHPC and Yeshi Wangdi, director general of Bhutan's department of energy, signed the agreement in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NHPC had earlier prepared the detailed project report of Mangdechhu hydroelectric project and is currently preparing DPRs of Chamkharchhu - I (670 MW) and Kuri Gongri (1800 MW) hydro electric projects in Bhutan.

Meanwhile, NHPC has drawn up a perspective plan, for up to 2017, involving massive capacity addition, in order to reverse the trend and give a renewed thrust to hydropower by the government.
 
NHPC also recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry of power for the year 2010-11 as a commitment to achieve targets for various financial, dynamic, sector specific and enterprise specific parameters.

The company has set a target of generating 18,000 million units of electricity as against 17,200 million units set for last year. Gross sales has been kept at Rs3,694 crore against Rs2,462 core for the corresponding previous year.

NHPC has been signing MoUs setting production and other parametres since 1991-92, the release said.

The contribution of hydro power in the country's total installed capacity has been declining steadily since 1963 - from 44 per cent in 1970 to 24 per cent in 1999. The ideal hydro-thermal mix is considered to be in the ratio of 40:60 and the present imbalance is largely responsible for system instability, the release noted.