VIJAYAWADA: The six units of Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS), which hit a snag on Wednesday, was revived and power generation was resumed in a record time of four hours. The snag in the VTPS units of APGENCO was reported due to the failure of the station supply unit where around 1000 MW generation suddenly tripped in the peak hours in the evening.
On being alerted, APGENCO managing director KVN Chakradhar Babu led the team to flash and synchronise the units with the guidance of special chief secretary (energy) K Vijayanand. All the emergency units like hospitals, railways, etc in the State faced no interruption in power.
“APGENCO is taking stringent steps to prevent any interruptions in power generation including supply of coal from fields and also ensuring efficient generation of power at better heat rate and optimization of fuel resources. Efforts are being made to adopt the best practices, improve operational efficiency and reduce emissions. APGENCO will strive hard to be the best organization at the national level in power generation and maintaining the highest Plant Load Factor (PLF),” he said.
APGENCO is generating power on full swing. Even if there are any technical issues, the same will be rectified as soon as possible to ensure the best generation. The Unit-3 of APGENCO is putting efforts to make Dr NTTPS (VTPS), Ibrahimpatnam 800 MW plant operational within 10 days”, APGENCO MD said.
The energy minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy appreciated Vijayanand, KVN Chakradhar Babu and the entire team of APGENCO and APTRANSCO for resolving the crisis on hand in a very short duration. He asked power utilities to be more cautious in view of the continuous rise in mercury, to avoid any inconvenience to the people due to interruptions in power supply. Chakradhar Babu further disclosed that APGENCO is aiming at the sustainability of 100 per cent output from the thermal generation units to meet the growing energy demand.
Daily energy demand reaches 247 MU
With the continuous rise in temperature, the daily energy demand has touched the highest record peak of 247 MU on May 16, in the last 8 years, whereas the energy demand was 195 MU on the same day in last year. The present-day energy demand is more than around 20 per cent when compared to the demand of the same day last year. APGENCO has registered a record level of electricity generation in the State with 105.620 million units (5,137 MW) of electricity on May 11, 2023.