Kothagudem to soon become a power hub of Telangana State

Bhadradri-Kothagudem: The State is all set to become a power hub after the construction of Bhadradri Thermal Power Station (BTPS) at Manuguru in the district. Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS) was established six decades ago at Palvoncha, located ten kilometres away from district headquarters, and already generating 1,800 Megawatts (MW) power. The KTPS consists of seven phases with different capacities.

The BTPS with the power generation capacity of 1080 MW will help to take the overall power generation in Kothagudem district to 2800 MW, which will be the highest power generation in one district of the State, said officials.

According to officials, the KTPS started power generation in the year 1966. The generation capacity of first phase unit was 60 megawatts and the same is the capacity of second phase unit which was started in 1967. The two phases generated 120 MW. The third phase which has two units commenced power generation in 1974 and 1975 respectively. It generated 120 MW power in each phase and total generation capacity was 240 MW.

Another 240 MW power generation was added in the years 1977 and 1978 with two units of fourth phase. The above four stages are Operations and Maintenance (O&M) plants. Following which the fifth plant in two stages started generating 250 MW power each in 1997 and 1998. The sixth plant added 500 MW power generation in the year 2011. The seventh plant has been generating power since December last with 800 MW capacity.

Speaking to The Hans India, Chief Engineer KTPS V&VI plants K Ravinder Kumar said the (O&M) plants would be closed by December 31 due to environmental reasons. The KTPS including all plants generated 2520 MW power in early days.

After the closure of O&M plants, the remaining plants including fifth, sixth and seventh were generating 1,800 MW. The O&M plants which would soon be shut down used to generate 720 MW power.

The employees working in O&M plants said that there would be no impact on overall power generation with the closing of the old plants as the BTPS will be adding 1080 MW power. The official informed that the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plants works were going on speedily. It is the first mega project started in the State after the formation of Telangana and after it is completed the State would have no power issues.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao laid the foundation stone in the year 2015 for the project at Manuguru. The project was being constructed on 1179.3 acres with nearly Rs 9,268 crore. Nearly 3,500 tonnes coal would be used per unit of power generation. BTPS Chief Engineer Bala Raju said that the project would be completed by April 2020.

Senior citizen T V Ramana, while talking about the project said, "the district has occupied important place in the State in all aspects. It is famous for historical temples like Bhadradri Lord Rama temple, tourism spots and now it will be famous for power generation."