Morung Express
Kohima | August 11
The defunct Rs 180 crore 24 MW Likhimro Hydel Power Project is back into action as the two Korean firms managed to commission two, out of the three turbines, recently.
The project, which has three turbines, each with 8 MW is now generating 16 MW, and the engineers of NEC firm from Korea is on the job to commission the third turbine and is expected to do it within a short period of time, said Parliamentary Secretary Power, Doshehe Sumi.
The 24 Mega watt Likhimro Hydel Power project has to be leased out to the Korean firm as the state government could not keep the project going due to want of technical know- how in the state.
Since its inception, the nearly Rs 200 crore project has been looked after by the foreign firm. It had stopped generating power for quite sometime as there was no agency or firm to run the project after the consultancy firm backed out from the project due to lack of proper policies. During the 2005-06 the state government was again forced to earmark Rs 600.00 lakhs to undertake refurbishing works on the project.
Only this time, when the state government decided to lease out, the NEC firm from Korea took over the project and could it be commissioned for the second time.
Parliamentary Secretary for Power and Parliament Affairs, Doshehe said that once the third turbine is commissioned, the state has to see the feasibility of trading power to the other states. But, he also said that it would depend on the surplus, the Hydel power project generates.
He further said that review and adoption of proper policy would be required if the 24 MW project has to be allowed to generate power as it was originally planned.
Speaking at the general conference of the Associations of Power Engineers, Doshehe called upon the state technocrats to update their knowledge base on the demand of fast advancing world.
Citing Likhimro as the instance, where the state engineers has failed to meet the demand of time, Doshehe, emphasized the need to give additional training to the state engineers so as to enable them manage the project without the involvement of foreign hand. Adding that this failure could be due to lack of exposure to the machineries like that of the hydro power project.
The Parliamentary Secretary also opined that the economic growth of the state would by and large depend on the efficient power generation and mineral exploitation, while urging the engineers to strive to produce surplus power.
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