Panipat plant losses mount
Tribune News Service

Panipat, February 1
Repeated disruptions in power generation at the Panipat Thermal Power Station (PTPS) due to technical snags have resulted in mounting losses for the power utilities.

The power utilities have already incurred losses of over Rs 100 crore due to various reasons. During the past three months, power generation at various units of the plant has remained suspended for one reason or the other.

Sources say the plant could not generate 3,820 mw of power as most of its units were under maintenance. Besides, the power utilities suffered a loss of over Rs 37 crore due to jamming of seven bearings of unit-3.

There have been several instances when some of the units of the plant tripped again and again because of foggy conditions.

This had lead to unscheduled power cuts across the state, causing much inconvenience to the public and also affected production in several industrial units.

Senior officials, pleading anonymity, say that considerable losses have been incurred on account of breaking down of unit-3. They say a departmental inquiry to look into the causes of the breakdown is underway to ascertain as to what went wrong despite regular maintenance.

They maintain that despite the problems being faced by the plant authorities, it is still performing well as compared to other thermal power plants in the state.

Reliable sources informed that the breakdown of unit-3 had occurred because the officials concerned had not examined the oil pumps which had stopped supplying lubricants to the bearings.

This caused the jamming of all seven bearings, resulting in losses not only on account of repairs, but also in terms of power generation.