BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) has taken emergency shutdown of the first two units (2x210 MW) of IB Thermal Power Station in Jharsuguda district to take care of one of the two ash ponds that has developed cracks.
The first and second units took forced shutdown immediately after the fourth unit having installed capacity of 660 MW was back to grid after taking a week’s shutdown for maintenance of boiler.
“We are not facing any problems on the power front as the demand has not peaked up yet due to good weather condition. We have been drawing nearly 1,200 MW from the third and fourth units of IB thermal against its generating capacity of 1,320 MW. The shortfall from the first two units are managed from the surplus power,” authoritative sources in Grid Corporation told The New Indian Express.
The average power demand of the state is around 5,000 MW while the peak demand remains within 5,500 MW. OPGC is under fire for illegally dumping ash from the third and fourth units to the ash pond dedicated for the first two units at Rengali leading to breach of pond in December 2023 even after approval of the commission for construction of new ash ponds at Tilia at an estimated cost of `582 crore.
The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has also asked OPGC to submit a status report on the new ash pond approved by the Commission for the 1,320 MW (2x660 MW) third and fourth units of the IB Thermal Power Station.
As per reports from Jharsuguda, ash from the first two units were dumped in ash pond-B after last year’s explosion of ash pond-C. Now cracks have appeared in ash pond-B. Fearing another disaster, OPGC has taken shutdown of the two units to repair the cracks. The units are expected to return to the grid in the first week of April, Gridco sources said.