Glitches continue at NCTPS, 810 mw production affected

While the previous instances happened last month when the cold weather had reduced power consumption, the continuing trouble as the mercury is inching up is a cause of concern for power managers here.

Like in the last three times, it was puncture in boilers that led to the shutdown of two units of the power station.

“Third unit in Stage-I (210 mw) and first unit of Stage-II (600 mw) were shutdown owing to puncture in boilers. As a result, a total of 810 mw of power production was affected,” said official sources.

According to officials, boiler puncture happened in the early hours of Wednesday. Workers have since been attending to it, and the operation would resume soon, officials added.

Though the power generated here is supplied to meet Chennai’s requirement, they added that alternate arrangements have been made to ensure that the power situation in the city was not affected.

Boilers in the same two units were punctured on January 19, besides being affected two more.

The frequency of boiler puncture has been increasing, causing disruption of supply to Chennai. However, officials did not respond when asked about the cause.

The power station situated in Pudhunagar village in Tiruvallur district houses three units in Stage-I plant (each 210 mw production capacity), and two units in Stage-II plant (600 mw each).

The total power production capacity of NCTPS, one of the largest thermal power plants in the State that mainly caters to the needs of city, is 1,830 mw.