THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The shutdown at the 340-megawatt Sabarigiri project and the resultant load-shedding have again turned the spotlight on one of the KSEB’s biggest worries: ageing hydropower projects.
Since environmental concerns prevent new and big hydro-electric projects, several ageing projects are retained with overhauls and upgrades.
At the top of this list of the “battle-scarred veterans” are Poringalkuthu, Kuttiyadi and Sholayar hydro-electric projects, all three inaugurated between the late 1950s and the early 1970s.
The 32-megawatt Poringalkuthu project, commissioned between 1957 and 1960, is undergoing renovation and modernisation work which will raise its capacity by four megawatts.
“Each of the four generating machines here has a capacity of eight megawatts. The capacity of each will go up by one megawatt under the programme. Work on one machine was completed in April and the second one will be commissioned by August,” said M Mohammedali Rawther, director (Distribution and Generation- Electrical), KSEB.
The KSEB has gone in for renovation and upgrade of this project as the machines have exceeded their normal life. The penstock pipes – the pipelines which carry water from the reservoir to a power station – are to be partially replaced, and so are several other pieces of equipment such as the turbine runner and main inlet valves.
The KSEB has awarded the Poringalkuthu work to M/s Allonward-SSIPL consortium for `49.98 crore. The board has made an outlay of `10 crore for the work on this project. Another old project awaiting renovation and modernisation is the 54-megawatt Sholayar project, commissioned during 1966-1968 and nearing its 50th birthday.