THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Perunthenaruvi Small Hydro Electric Project (SHEP) in Idukki district, which had been tangled up in the Forest Department’s red tape for years and on which work was finally started in 2012, is expected to be completed only by June, 2015.
According to the original schedule, the project should have been completed on March 21 this year. The hydro electric project envisages power generation to the tune of 25.77 million units (MU) a year.
As per the state electricity board offficials that only around 25 per cent of the work has been completed so far. Work had started on the project, which will have an installed capacity of 6 megawatt (MW), on March 2, 2012.
This was one of the three SHEPs on which the Kerala State Electricity Board had started work in 2012. The project involves the installation of two turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each.The power generated at Perunthenaruvi will be transmitted to 33 kV Ranni-Perunad sub-station and the 110 kV sub-station at Ranni.
Once commissioned, the power project is expected to generate power full-time for seven months a year and on a temporary basis depending on the availability of water during the summer months, a KSEB official said.
The Perunthenaruvi project had also figured in the recently-concluded Assembly session with Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed saying that administrative sanction was given for releasing `67.90 crore for the project.
The civil works had been awarded to M/s Poulose George Construction Company for `34.83 crore and the electro-mechanical works to M/s Flow-well Energy Pvt Ltd for `13.40 crore.