Ropar plant unit breaks down twice in a week
Closure due to boiler leakage n Power generation down by 50 LU
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 9
A day after completion of annual maintenance work at the unit number 1 of Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant in Ropar, the 210-MW unit had to be shut down again on June 4 when its boiler leaked due to choking of its two tubes. The unit was made operational after repairs on June 7. But, it had to be shut down the same day as the leakage was detected again. Ever since, it has not been made functional.

Preliminary reports suggest the boiler tubes got choked in the re-heater zone, which led to leakage.

The unit's closure has reduced daily power generation in Punjab by 50 lakh units (LU).

PSPCL (Punjab State Power Corporation Limited) Director, Generation, GS Chhabra said, "The unit was shut down on April 29 for overhauling, which lasted 38 days. It was made operational on June 3, four days ahead of the June 7 deadline. After clearing the blockage in the tubes, the unit was re-started on June 7. But before full load could be achieved, the leakage was again detected."

Chhabra said engineers from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited had been called in to rectify the snag.

A senior PSPCL official, however, said there was a need to probe as to how the boiler tubes got choked when their acid cleaning was a part of the annual maintenance.

PSPCL Director (Distribution) Arun Verma said since yesterday, the corporation had been receiving 340-MW power from unallocated quota of the Centre Sector Power Projects on a daily basis. He said the state's power demand at present was 1,480 LU. But once the sowing of paddy started on June 10, the demand may touch 1,900 LU.

"In order to ensure uninterrupted supply to various categories of consumers and eight-hour supply to farmers, the PSPCL had signed short-term purchase agreements for procuring 384 LU of additional power," he said.

Technical glitch

April 29: The 210-MW unit at Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant in Ropar is shut down for annual maintenance

June 3: The unit is made functional four days ahead of the official deadline on June 7

June 4: The unit shut down again as a leakage detected in the boiler due to tube blockage

June 7: Hours after the unit is resrored, the boiler leakage spotted again; the unit is shut down