State inks landmark power purchase agreement with Andhra Pradesh

After three-and-a half decades of long wait when Priyadarshini Jurala Hydro Power Project was conceived in 1978, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on Monday signed the much-awaited Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 720 crore that will be shared by both the states equally.

About 2,466 acres will besubmerged in Karnataka side, whereas AP government will be taking care of rehabilitation, resettlement activities and for the same AP has deposited Rs 91 crore already.

Once the generation begins, the pwer will be cheaper than its present cost, at Rs 3.23 paise per unit, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy) P Ravi Kumar said. The duration of the power purchase agreement is 35 years.

Power block

The power block cost of Rs 140 crore is also shared equally by power companies of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka has already paid its share of Rs 70 crore.

Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said: “Officials of AP government have taken a bold and positive step in resolving the crisis looming over the project for so many years. Had they waited for the bifurcation of AP state, it would have further complicated things and would have taken another few years for this project to take off.

Although power generation has begun, we were not able to agree on the power sharing model. We are glad that an agreement has been reached and we will soon start receiving power from the project.”

As per estimates, the annual energy receivable from the project beginning 2014-15,  will be 202 million units by Karnataka at 117 MW installed capacity.

 Six units of the multipurpose project, envisaged for both irrigation and power generation, were commissioned in August 2011, 33 years after it was first conceived during Devraj Urs’ term as chief minister.

KPTCL officials said several meetings involving their officials and those from APGENCO, Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO) et al were held between April 2013 and now to finalise the methodology for evacuation of power and settlement of over-drawal/under-drawal of energy from the project.