CHENNAI: TANGEDCO has decided to take up annual maintenance work at its thermal power plants as the State has started getting 3,000MW per day through wind power. Tamil Nadu may continue to get the renewable power till September.
Of the daily power requirement of 16,000MW, nearly 3,000MW to 3,500MW is generated from State-owned thermal plants. Tamil Nadu gets 5,000MW per day from the central pool. To start with, the first unit of the North Chennai thermal power station has been shut for capital overhauling (COH) maintenance.
The unit may commence operation on August 1, said a senior official. Normal maintenance would be carried out for 15 days once in a year at all thermal stations. Complete maintenance and cleaning work, technically called COH, will take 45 days to complete and would be done once every five years, the official said.
"All types of equipment, including boiler tube, speed water pump, turbines, will be checked thoroughly during COH. The work has been outsourced by TANGEDCO," the official said.
The second unit of Thoothukudi thermal plant, also shut for maintenance, may start functioning from June 30. TANGEDCO will take up maintenance work at all the remaining thermal units soon, the officer added. Another official of Thoothukudi thermal plant said the plant with five units of 210MW capacity each was one of the oldest thermal stations in Tamil Nadu.
Though periodical maintenance work was being carried out, getting spare parts may be extremely tough, he said. In the past, the fifth unit of the station was closed for more than a year due to technical issues and officials had to visit Madhya Pradesh to get spare parts, he said.
It would be better if government holds discussion with technicians and procure materials in advance, the officer said.
FGD installation in Thoothukudi plant
To meet the revised environmental norms, TANGEDCO planned to install Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) in all five thermal stations at the estimated cost of Rs 2,350 crore. This will reduce Sulphur-dioxide levels in the flue gas. In the first phase, the State government has allocated Rs 500 crore to install FGD in Thoothukudi thermal station. For this, the tender will be floated on June 28