Three buddies, Jith George, Rohit Govinda and Vijesh Sam Sanoop, chase their dreams. BTech graduates, they quit their well-paying jobs and are in a bind of setting up their own project. Because, they ventured into the production of electricity.

The driving force behind their entrepreneurial spirit is their company Suiso Energy, which they created three years ago. The Kerala State Electricity Board welcoming independent power producers has come at an opportune time, they believe.

Suiso Energy recently got approval for a 350kW one acre mini hydropower project in Ezhamkadavu, near Iritty, in Kannur.

Mr George, 30, says they worked together at a company that outsourced engineering design and consulting work in the oil and gas industry. However, four years ago they received consultancy work for a project associated with KSEB and the Energy Management Center that helped them understand the potential of the sector.

“We decided to switch to power generation after accepting a consultancy job for a mini-hydropower project to generate 100 kW at Vellakayam in Idukki,” says Mr. George, originally from Ernakulam.

Mr. Sanoop, 35, says the government has allowed private participation for such projects in two categories, “build, operate and transfer” and “own land”. The former are larger, for which calls for tenders are launched. Under the latter, hydel projects are authorized when it is possible to generate electricity on one’s own land.

“After researching many places, we identified the land in Ezhamkadavu and the company bought the land, where we can set up the factory as part of the river management project,” says Mr. Sanoop, from Kannur. .

In accordance with the project, water from Kundur Creek, a tributary of the Valapattanam River, will be channeled for approximately 150 meters to the Ezhamkadavu power station. After producing electricity, the water returns to the river.

According to central government standards, it is not necessary to perform an environmental impact assessment for projects under 10 MW. However, they carried out a technical and economic feasibility study for the establishment of the plant.

Mr Govinda, 36, says this is a conventional project and the plant will be set up at 3 crore and that they expect to generate 10 lakh units per year, with maximum production expected between June and December. “Once the works are completed, we plan to sign an agreement with the KSEB to supply electricity,” explains Mr. Govinda, from Alappuzha.

They identified sites in Kannur, Palakkad and Pathanamthitta to set up similar projects.