Seethathodu (Pathanamthitta): A fire hazard at the Sabarigiri Power Station may result in reduced power production within Kerala. However, the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) is confident of tiding over the shortage without resorting to power cut or any such restrictions.
Some coils of the Generator 6 at the power station located at Moozhiyar in Pathanamthitta district were gutted in a fire on Friday evening. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has shut down the generator, causing a substantial dip in the internal power generation.
A shortage of 96 megawatt of power is expected with the shutdown of the generator. However, KSEB chairman B Ashok asserted there was no cause for worry regarding the power situation in the State.
Today being Sunday, there will be less consumption. On Monday, the KSEB is scheduled to receive 200 MW from outside the State.
Only four generators functional now
After Friday's incident, the number of operational generators at the Sabarigiri station is down to four.
The power station has a total of six generators. The generators 1, 2, 3 and 5 used to produce 55 MW of power, while units 4 and 6 units produced 60 MWs of power.
The Unit 4 has been non-functional for the last two years due to technical problems. With the shutdown of Generator 6, there is a dip of 120 MWs in total power production at the power station.
Repairs of the sixth generator are expected to take one-and-a-half months to complete. Of the total 180 coils in the generator, only a few were gutted in the fire.
The repair work will begin soon, the authorities said.
(The 340 MW Sabarigiri Hydro Electric Project (IHEP) is the second largest hydro electric project in Kerala.)
Tragedy averted
A big tragedy was averted due to the automatic shutdown of the generator immediately after the fire.
The generator was under repair for many days and it was pressed into service again on Friday evening. Almost 10 minutes after it was switched on, the fire incident occurred. A few employees were standing near the generator a few minutes before the incident.
Generator coils had caught fire here earlier too.