International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order to supply the complete electromechanical package for the Lower Kopili hydropower project, located on River Kopili in central Assam.
The mandate was placed by Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGCL), a state government utility. This will also be the first contract that ANDRITZ has received from APGCL in the northeastern state.
Start of commercial operations from the upcoming hydropower project is scheduled for end of 2024, ANDRITZ said in a statement.
The ANDRITZ scope of supply consists of plant design and engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of the complete electro-mechanical equipment, including all five turbine-generator units, for the Lower Kopili hydroelectric project.
As the river has a very high acid content at the location of the Lower Kopili hydropower plant, most underwater parts will be made of stainless steel.
Once completed, the hydropower plant will have a total installed capacity of about 120 MW, based on two main units and three environmental flow units and provide 456 GWh of electricity per year. The project will provide strong support in covering the growing demand for electricity in Assam, the ANDRITZ statement observed.
The entire work on the APGCL order will be conducted by ANDRITZ’s Indian subsidiary with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Mandideep (near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) and Prithla (near Faridabad, Haryana). This contract will be the fifth project for ANDRITZ from the northeastern region of India following the contract for rehabilitation work at the Kopili hydroelectric project awarded earlier in 2021 by NEEPCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central PSU power utility NTPC.
Featured photograph shows the contract signing between ANDRITZ and APGCL for the 120-mw Lower Kopili hydropower project in Assam.