240-MW project on Jhelum to provide 12% free electricity to state The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has added another feather to its cap as the Uri-II hydroelectric project is ready for use and will be commissioned within a couple of months. The testing and checking of the power project will be completed in one week and after that it will start generating electricity. The 240-mega watt Uri-II hydroelectric project is the second project on the Jhelum in the Uri area of Baramulla district of the Kashmir valley which has been constructed by the NHPC. “Within one week, all sort of testing on the hydropower project will be completed and it will be ready for commissioning. All four turbines, having a capacity of 60 MW each, have been tested and are ready for use,” an NHPC official told The Tribune. The J&K Government will be getting 12 per cent (28.8 MW) free electricity from this project and another one per cent free electricity will be provided by the NHPC for local area development. “Apart from that, one per cent electricity will be used by the NHPC under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for development of local areas,” the official added. Work began on the Rs 1724.79-crore hydroelectric project in 2007. The dam height of the power project stands at 52m and is 157m long. There are four spillways of nine metres each in the dam which will help divert the water to the tunnel for power generation. The head race tunnel of the power project is 4.233 km long. The underground power house is 133m long, 15m wide and 40m high where four turbines of 60 mega watt each are installed. The length of the tail race tunnel is around 3.615 km which carries water from the power house to the river. The Uri-II hydroelectric project will generate 1,123 million electricity units annually giving more stability to the northern grid. Sources said the project was all set to be inaugurated during the Prime Minister’s recent two-day visit to the state on June 25 and 26 but it had to be postponed due to some unavoidable reasons. “All the security drills at Uri-II power project site were completed and preparations to receive the Prime Minister were made but at the last moment, the inauguration was cancelled,” a source said.