KOCHI: A 60 MW power generation unit at Sabarigiri power station, the second largest hydro electric project in Kerala, was shut down on Friday evening due to winding failure. The incident has caused a shortage of 60 MW in the state’s power generation at a time when it is facing high consumption due to the scorching summer heat.
According to KSEB system operations chief engineer S R Anand, the power consumption in the state stood at 88.93 million units of which 32.39 milluin units were generated internally. The power drawn from the national grid was 56.54 million units.
The sixth generator at Sabarigiri power project dripped due to winding failure at 5.53 pm on Friday, said KSEB chief engineer (generation) K R Rajan. A team led by Rajan and KSEB director (generation) Siju Jose inspected the unit on Saturday morning. “We are assessing the damage caused by the winding failure. It will take at least a month to repair and restart the unit. There is no need to impose load shedding as power is available in the national grid for purchase,” said Rajan.
There are four generators with a capacity of 55 MW and two units with a capacity of 60 MW at Sabarigiri. The Sabarigiri project was commissioned in 1966 with an installed capacity of 300 MW, which was raised to 340 MW after renovation, modernisation and updating of the project implemented between 2004 and 2009. The fourth generator of the unit was completely destroyed in a fire on May 16, 2008. The machine parts were dismantled and a new machine was erected with an enhanced capacity of 60 MW on May 6, 2014.
The KSEB had conducted an evaluation of the units two months ago and had proposed rewinding of the units as the winding was found to be weak. A proposal for rewinding the units is under the consideration of the board. The plan was to conduct the rewinding next year.
The lifetime of a hydro electric generation unit is 35 years which can be extended to another 25 years through renovation. During the 2005 renovation. the coolers of the units were replaced.