Meghalaya: Garo Hills' First 7.5-MW Hydro Power Project Commissioned

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on 05 January inaugurated the first unit of the 22.5 MW Ganol Small Hydro Power Project in the West Garo Hills, adding 7.5 MW power to the state’s grid.

Terming the inauguration of the project as “historic‟ and landmark day for Garo Hills, the Chief Minister said that the project, worth over Rs 560 crore, was completed with sheer commitment of the current government that had envisaged to put Garo Hills in the power map of the nation.

Small Hydro Projects covers those projects which have an installed power plant capacity lower than or equal to 25 MW.

Garo Hills Region

Tucked away in the hills of eastern sub-Himalayas is Meghalaya, one of the most beautiful state in the country. The Garo Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya and one of the wettest places in the world. The region comprises five districts — West Garo Hills, East Garo Hills, South Garo Hills, South West Garo Hills and North Garo Hills.

Power generation has been a hurdle in Garo Hills region especially during dry winter months. As per a source in the power department, Garo Hills has faced between 1,825 hours to 2,190 hours of power cuts in the past one year.

The commissioning of the Ganol Hydro Power Project will largely meet the peak electricity demands and is a step closer towards self-sufficiency in power generation.

Ganol Project

The Ganol Small Hydroelectric project harnesses the natural flow of the Ganol River near Tura to generate electricity through the use of three turbine-generator units, each with a capacity of 7.5 MW.

The first hydro power project of Garo Hills region that was left pending since 2014, is nearing completion and the remaining two units are expected to be operational in the coming months.  

The generating plant would supply power to the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) for which the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been executed on 20 September, 2022.

Long Struggle

The Chief Minister stated that the Ganol project was close to being abandoned due to a lack of funds, despite the state government having already invested in it. However, the current state government took charge of the project in 2018 and secured the necessary funds to restart the project.

The project will aid to a large extend to supplement power requirement in Garo Hills region as well supplement the power supply in the state. The State currently requires about 380 MW of power. 

Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation along with India’s leading hydro power construction company Patel Engineering Ltd., Mumbai as its lead contractor and E&M Contractor Toshiba Plant Systems & Services Corporation, Japan combined together to complete the first engineering marvel hydro power project of Garo Hills.