Power plant capacity to be increased
Umesh Dewan/TNS

Patiala, February 3
Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) KD Chaudhri has stated that the capacity of the under-construction 540-MW coal-based Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Plant in Tarn Taran district will be increased to 1,860-MW. He further said that a Memorandum of Understanding for increasing the capacity of the thermal plant had been signed with the GVK Group, at the PSPCL headquarters in Patiala today.

“At present, two separate units having a capacity of 270-MW each are being developed by the GVK Group. Now, two more units of 660-MW capacity each will be set up, which will take the total capacity of the thermal plant to 1860 MW,” said Chaudhri. He added that the additional land required for extension would be only 150 to 170 acres and the Phase-II of 1320-MW (2x660-MW) would be set up at the same place, where Phase-I of 540-MW (2x270-MW) is under construction now.

“Super-critical technology will be used in plant, which is super efficient and low emission. Chimneys will be of 270-metres height, so as to minimise pollution. The GVK group is in an advanced stage of implementing the Phase-I of the project, along with the captive coal mine in Jharkhand,” he said.

Major power outage in Punjab after two Lehra Mohabbat units go bust
Rajay Deep & Gurdeep Mann
Tribune News Service

Bathinda/Fatehgarh Sahib, Feb 3
Punjab reeled under a major power disruption today with two out of the four units of the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant going out of order resulting in a daily shortfall of more than one hundred lakh units.

The disruption had its effect on the industry with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) increasing power cuts for induction furnace plants and other units.

A report from Bathinda said one of the units of Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant tripped on Tuesday. Another unit has been out of operation since January 16. The latter was shut down to prepare the plant to run at its maximum capacity during the coming paddy season. It has been shut down for a 45-day period.

However, PSPCL plans went awry when the second 210-MW unit suffered a technical snag on Tuesday. The snag was still to be corrected till late Thursday evening. Plant chief engineer RPS Saini said, “It was an unfortunate incident and we are doing our best but it may take some time to put things in place.” He said sensing the gravity of the situation, the engineers had been asked to speed up the overhauling of unit-I so that it could start generation at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a report from Ropar said the two-day power cut imposed on induction furnaces has been increased to three days in a week. The general industry will now face a two-day power cut. Already reeling under scheduled power cuts, the input cost in these industries has gone up, leaving the industrialists fuming. State Induction Furnace Association president Mahinder Gupta said that power cuts had severely hampered industry operations.

Meanwhile, XEN Fatehgarh Sahib AS Gill said that the cut had indeed been extended owing to severe power shortage.