BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) is planning to float a notice inviting tender (NIT) for stage-III expansion of the Ib Thermal Power Station (ITPS) at Banharpalli in Jharsuguda district by end of this month.
“Efforts are on to invite tenders for boiler-turbine-generator (BTG) package by end of July while NIT will be floated for the balance of plant (BOP) for the two coal-based supercritical thermal power plants of 660 MW in September,” said deputy chief minister and Energy minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo.
He said OPGC is also pursuing its maiden 50 MW solar power plant in its used ash pond for which NIT will also be floated in July. “If everything goes as per the plan, contracts for the BTG and BOP will be awarded by December and February next year respectively,” Singh Deo added.
In November 2024, OPGC had floated NIT for an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contract, essentially a turnkey solution, starting from design and engineering to procurement of materials and equipment, and finally, construction and commissioning, of the project. However, the tender was cancelled to split the project contract to two packages.
“The project approval committee of the state government had estimated that the fifth and sixth units will cost about `12,717 crore. The project cost may undergo a change after recovery of price and determination of cost based on the biddings,” said a senior OPGC office in charge of projects.
The OPGC proposal for setting up of two more units had received in-principle approval of the state government in May 2023. The expansion plan of the state-run thermal power generator got stage-I clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in October 2023.
After obtaining term of reference (ToR) from the Environment Ministry, OPGC had engaged Hyderabad-based VIMTAB Lab for environment impact assessment (EIA). It has almost completed the EIA and socio-economic study for the project.
“The mandatory requirements for public hearings and consultations to gather feedback from stakeholders will be taken up soon. A report of the EIA, socio-economic study and public hearing will be submitted to MoEF&CC for stage-II clearance,” said OPGC sources.