The 18 mega watt (MW) Mukerian hydel project is all set to start generating electricity from December this year. “The new plan which is coming up at a cost of Rs302 crore would be a source of cheap power at a cost of Rs1.85 per unit,” said an official spokesperson on Wednesday.
He said that 95 per cent civil work of the power house had been completed and construction was in full swing to provide a permanent outfall structure for Mukerian hydel channel stage-I into river Beas. The electro mechanical works have been executed by Bharat Heavy Electrical limited (BHEl) on EPC basis. He said that during construction and excavation activities, problem of excess underground water was experienced due to eruption of artesian well which had delayed execution of the project by four months.
The newly constructed hydel project has a 3.5 km newly built channel having maximum carrying capacity 11,500 cusecs of water, said the spokesperson adding that the total capacity of 18 MW would be generated from two units of nine MW each.
Talking about unique features of this project, spokesperson said that a bulb type generator was used on the project instead of traditional water winds as the site had a short waterfall and volume of water was high. “The newly installed ultramodern bulb type generator technique is used first time in the state,” he added.