Power generation resumes in 2 units at Srisailam plant

Hyderabad: Two months after a fire mishap which brought power generation to a halt at the Srisailam Left Bank Hydro Electric Station following a major blast, the TSGENCO resumed power generation formally in the unit 1 and 2 of the total 6 units on Monday.

Power generation was stopped in the 6×150 megawatt underground hydro power station near Eegalapenta in Nagarkurnool district after a fire mishap due to short circuit in four and six units which claimed nine lives on August 21.

In the presence of State Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy and TS TRANSCO and GENCO Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao, power generation was resumed in the two units. As the Sirsailam reservoir was receiving good inflows, officials said that the hydel power generation in two units will help the government meet the increasing power demand in the state.

A thorough trial run of the two units was conducted on Saturday and synchronized the units with the grid before the start of the power generation in the plant. Officials said that the two units have been revived in September but the Covid pandemic has put brakes on resuming power generation.

The work is in progress to restore the four other units including the damaged one. It will take some time to revive all the units. Efforts were on to generate power from all six units by January 2021, Rao said. Last year, nearly 1,000 million units of power was generated during September and October. Before the fire mishap this year, the hydel unit has generated 400 million units in August.

The Energy Minister said the government accorded top priority to the power sector and has taken the restoration works as a challenge and could successfully restore the power generation unit in the earliest possible time period.

"Today we have successfully restored the underground power house and began 300 MW power generation with two generators. All the power generation units will be restored to their full capacity soon, he added.