The 4x180MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project has been officially inaugurated in Bhutan in a ceremony attended by the Indian Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi and Bhutan’s Prime Minister Dr. Lotay Tshering.
Indian firm BHEL has executed the electro-mechanical package for the project which includes design, manufacture, supply, transportation, storage, erection, testing & commissioning of generating units and associated auxiliaries including Pelton Turbines, Generators, Governors, MIV, etc. along with Balance of Plant items i.e. Bus Duct, DC System, EOT Cranes etc. The equipment has been supplied from BHEL’s manufacturing units at Bhopal, Bengaluru, Rudrapur, Hyderabad, Jhansi and Mumbai, while erection and commissioning on site was carried out by the company’s Power Sector – Eastern Region, Kolkata.
The run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant constructed on Mangdechhu river in Bhutan has a gross head of 692 meter, with four Pelton Turbines. The project has been executed under difficult terrain conditions with limited road connectivity as well as frequent disruptions during monsoons.
BHEL has accomplished major milestones with the successful execution of the project. The Pelton turbine is the highest rating vertical turbine, designed, manufactured and supplied by BHEL outside India. The state-of-the-art Valmet DNA-based plant controls have also been deployed by BHEL for the first time for a hydro project outside India.
BHEL has already executed major projects like Chhukha, Kurichu and Tala in Bhutan and with commissioning of the 4x180MW Mangdechhu project, its total
contribution has gone up to 90% of the installed capacity in Bhutan. BHEL is presently executing export orders for 6x200MW Punatsangchhu-I and 6X170MW Punatsangchhu-II hydro power projects, which once commissioned, would take its share to 93% of the total power generation capacity of Bhutan.
