Tata's Bhivpuri power plant turns 100

One of the oldest hydroelectric power plants in the country—located at Bhivpuri in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, which is run by the Tata Power Company—has marked its century.

The Bhivpuri plant, along with the Khopoli and Bhira, is among the first hydroelectric plants in the region that harnesses the major water resources of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.

These three plants make up Mumbai’s ‘islanding system’, the backup power source that kicks in in case the metropolis’s power supply gets impacted—akin to an inverter system installed inside households.

The plant, one of the oldest in India, produces around 300 MUs of electricity annually and has provided clean energy for over 100 years to the nation.

The water released from Bhivpuri plant along with the Khopoli and Bhira hydel plants meets the Ulhas, Patalganga and Kundalika rivers in the Konkan region. This water has enabled rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, irrigation development and commercial trades in the downstream areas of Karjat, Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Badlapur, Mira-Bhayander and Vasai in the Mumbai metropolitan region.

This remarkable achievement also coincides with the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, India@75 and demonstrates Tata Power's efforts to 'Power India and Empower Bharat' for over 100 years.

The company started building the Bhivpuri Powerhouse in 1916.

The project was commissioned in 1922, with installed capacity of 48 MW, which was subsequently upgraded to 75 MW including a 72 MW new powerhouse, with three units of 24 MW.

It also includes a 3 MW tailrace powerhouse comprising two units of 1.5 MW each.

The plant now transmits power over 110 kV transmission lines to industries and licensees in the Mumbai metropolis.

The clean and cheap power generated at Bhivpuri Hydro Power Plant has helped curb pollution in Mumbai, one of the world’s busiest and densely populated cities.

For the past 100 years, Tata Power has been involved in a variety of economic and community development projects around the Bhivpuri Hydro plant. This includes the establishment of Dhaaga centers to support the livelihood of under-privileged community women, training rural women for producing herbal healthcare products, education excellence schemes for teachers and students to improve their academic performance, training teachers on biodiversity and environment, water and renewable energy schemes.

“Plants like Bhivpuri Hydro Power Station are important contributors to the company’s journey to promote clean and green power and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2045,” a Tata Power statement said.