Agartala: Even as first unit of Palatana power plant has been producing 220 MW power, dust in the pipelines has become a major cause of concern for the OTPC authority to run the plant with full load.
The production has been increased from 110 MW to 220 MW, which is still far behind of the installed capacity (363 MW) of the Palatana’s first unit. “We are trying to increase the production carefully but the problem is that dust still persists in the gas pipelines at the plant side”, said Managing Director of OTPC SK Dube over telephone from Kolkata on Tuesday..
The dust gathered in the pipelines of Unit-II has started entering in the Unit-I pipelines and BHEL engineers have been trying hard to clear the dust at the earliest, he said adding that major pigging operation would be need to clean the gas pipelines for both units.
“Before going for major pigging operation at Palatana plant, the plant needs to be shut down which may not be possible keeping in mind of the examination season. We will do it later”, he said.
The trial run of the Unit-II is likely to be delayed because of the present trouble at the Palatana plant. “The pre-commissioning activities for the Unit-II were supposed to be started yesterday but could not be possible due to the fault at the plant site. We will undertake the process later”, he said.
With the production at Palatana plant scaling up, the overall power scenario has improved significantly and the power cut has been withdrawn, said an official of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL).
“There is no report of put cut in the state after the Palatana started giving more power after two days trouble. Our main objective is to ensure good power service during the examination season”, he added.
