United Nations

This electricity is exported to the northern regional grid at 66 kV via the Chamoli sub-station, located approximately 9.1 km from the project site. The project site is upstream (eastwardly) of Birahi village, which is 6 km from Chamoli town.

A boulder type weir of approximately 52m is constructed across the river, on which three (3) 2400 kW capacity horizontal francis turbines are sited that generate approximately 39.78GWh of electricity (net) per annum. The project is having design head of 54.50m, and a design discharge of 17.435 cumecs (m³/sec) in penstock and 5.81 cumecs in each branch pipe. The power house is located on the north-east bank of the Birahi Ganga.

The north regional states, comprising of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, share the power generated in the area through the northern regional grid. The North Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) is the energy distribution centre, through which the allocated power share to each state is transmitted. The Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) is a generation agency of Uttarakhand, which is connected to the northern regional grid.

BGHEP has a Power Purchase Agreement with UPCL for the sale and transmission of the power generated to the northern regional grid which was later renewed with the UPCL covering the sale and transmission of power generated from the project.  

Contribution of the project activity to sustainable development

The region surrounding the proposed project site is one of the most economically underdeveloped areas in India wherein BGHEP is contributing strongly to the sustainable development of the region and surrounding areas in the following ways:

Contribution to Social Wellbeing:

• Increased availability and reliability of power supply from this project to the villages reduces the need for firewood for the Local villages improving their lifestyle and avoiding degradation of nearby forests too.
• The development of the project improves access to the area through the construction of new roads in nearby vicinity.
• The project developer has undertaken plantation forestry in the area to further enhance the area’s environmental, social and economic development.

Contribution to Economic Wellbeing:

• Power shortages are common in the area, particularly in the winter season when the power requirements of the region increase appreciably. As the generated power feeds into the nearest substation, the project increases the availability and reliability of power supply to the villages connected to the grid through this substation.
• The project is creating local employment on the project site as well as nearby the site while its maintenance and operation.

Contribution to Environmental Wellbeing:

• The project is not compromising access to the river resources by downstream river users, as it is a run-of-river scheme without altering its natural flows.
• The project activity has no impact on native fish migration patterns, as no significant change in the velocities of water currents occurs and hence there is no change in the ambient conditions for aquatic fauna.
• The generation of electricity by the project doesn’t result in the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and causes minimal disruption to the local environment as it is a run-of-river hydro scheme that does not require the building of a reservoir.

Contribution to Technological Wellbeing:

• The technology stated for use in the project activity represents environmentally friendly technology for the application. In addition, the project is consistent with the future plans of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) (formerly Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) of the Government of India to support and establish many such Renewable Energy Projects.

For more information on this project, please click here

For more information on the social benefits of the project, please click here