SJVN seeks financing for Luhri Stage-I development, India

Indian hydropower producer Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, invites expressions of interest from public or private banks by 25 November for the debt financing of the 210 MW Luhri Stage-I hydropower project.

SJVN seeks a commercial loan for a period of 19 years, including a seven-year moratorium, of INR 13.95 billion (approximately US$ 196.79 million), which is equivalent to 80 per cent of the total project cost of INR 17.437 billion (US$ 245.99 million).

The total capital cost includes civil and hydro-mechanical works, electro-mechanical works, interest during construction and financing charges. Equity financing of INR 3.4 billion (US$ 47.85 million), equivalent to 20 per cent of the total cost, is proposed to be injected by SJVN. The project is expected to generate a return on equity of 16.5 per cent with a first year sale rate at bus bar of INR 4.84 per kWh and a levelized tariff of INR 4.44/kWh.

The proposed run-of-river scheme with diurnal storage is designed to comprise a dam 49 m above the river bed level or 80 m from the deepest foundation level, with a powerhouse to be equipped with two 80 MW and two 25 MW units, each with Kaplan turbines, at the toe of the dam. Luhri Stage-I is expected to generate 777 GWh in a 90 per cent dependable year based on water availability studies.

The project is scheduled to be completed in a period of 62 months from the commencement of construction works. SJVN signed an MoU with the Government of Himachal Pradesh for implementation of Luhri-I and II and the Sunni dam on 29 August 2017 and received Techno-Economic Clearance from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in May 2018. Environment clearance was recommended by the EAC of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in August 2018 and Stage-I and Stage-II Forest Clearance was accorded in September 2018 and March 2019, respectively. Negotiation with landowners for direct acquisition of private land is under progress as is a lease agreement with the Forest Department of the Government of Himachal Pradesh. Survey and investigation work, and drilling and drifting work have been completed.

Interested lenders are requested to provide the information as per the format provided under Annexure ‘B’ of the tender notification. The full tender notice can be viewed on SJVN’s website at http://sjvn.nic.in.

EOIs with terms for debt financing should be submitted in a sealed envelope by post, courier or in person to: Anand Upadhyay, Sr. Addl. General Manager (F&A), SJVN Ltd., Office Block, Tower-I, 6th Floor, NBCC Commercial Complex, East Kidwai Nagar, New Delhi-110023 India;  Tel: +91 11 61901903/61901913; Fax: +91 11 61901916/915.