Parichha units trip, faults fixed soon

LUCKNOW: A incident which could have led to a major power crisis in the state occurred on Monday morning when a 132-KV transmission line developed a fault and tripped three units one after the other in Jhansi-based Paricha power plant. The fault, which was corrected within hours, brought down the state’s power generation immediately by more than 500 MW and widened the gap between demand and supply.
According to the Northern Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC), the tripping occurred in unit-3 and unit-4, each of 210 MW, and unit-1 of 110 MW around 4am. The incident sent the top brass of UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUNL), which owns the plant, into a tailspin. Only a day ago, the Paricha power plant was generating around 1000 MW.
Officials went into a huddle to seek the cause of the tripping, which was found in a fault in a 132-KV transmission line connected to the plant. The snag was corrected soon and the two units of 210 MW each were brought back to life by 10am. The 110-MW unit though remained tripped. UPRVUNL managing director Sanjay Prasad said a team of engineers had been roped in to bring back the third unit to life as soon as possible.
Already, one of the 110-MW units in Paricha is under renovation and maintenance and is likely to come into operation only by June-end.
The sudden tripping of power units comes weeks after the 500-MW Anpara D unit — inaugurated by UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on March 31 — went off the grid hours after its inauguration.
Utpadan Nigam sources said the unit was brought back to operation only last week and functioned at a load of around 200 MW. The unit is likely to undergo a shutdown once again.
Prasad said the unit had been facing teething problems and needed to be boxed up to function at a higher capacity.
“That would be done in a day or two,” he said. Sources said the unit might soon undergo a shutdown for at least three days before it starts wheeling out power into the state grid. The coming of a second unit of 500 MW at Anpara D, too, is likely to be delayed by at least a month. Sources said the unit, which was scheduled to fire up by July, would now come into operation only by August-end.