The Hindu : Srisailam power unit commissioned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 22, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Srisailam power unit commissioned

By M. Malleswara Rao

SRISAILAM APRIL 21. The 150 MW third unit of the Srisailam underground power project (900 MW) was commissioned ahead of the schedule on Sunday.

The AP Genco CMD, J. Parthasarathy, and its Director (Hydel), Bh. Satyanarayana Murthy, formalised the unit's synchronisation with the grid by pressing the button.

With this, the State's installed capacity has gone up to a new high of 9,212 MW with 6,078 MW out of it being accounted by the thermal and hydel stations of AP Genco, 1,500 MW by central stations and 1,362 MW by private plants. It also makes Andhra Pradesh the State with highest hydel capacity in the country at 3,123 MW.

After taking the Hyderabad-based journalists around the equipment, Mr. Parthasarathy announced that the fourth unit (150 MW) would be commissioned by October-end and the fifth and the last units by March and October, 2003 respectively.

The underground powerhouse is almost completed except the fourth, fifth and sixth units for which erection work is in full swing.

The station stands out as one of the best in the world with all the tunnels being rock bolted and cemented, the surge-chamber and powerhouse fully occupied with their paraphernalia, the gas-insulated switch gear being located within the tunnel and with the generated output being taken out to switchyard outside by 400-KV XLPE gas-insulated cable line, about one km long.

Ground is being prepared for running the six reversible turbines in pumping mode to pull back the Krishna river water back to the reservoir.

For this, the riverbed at the exit point of the tailrace tunnel is being deepened with the help of underwater excavators. It will help the backwaters of the Nagarjunasagar to flow into the exit point as and when the turbines are run in reverse direction.

At a briefing later, Mr. Parthasarathy and Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy nailed the criticism that the project was too costly (Rs. 2,482 crores) being made in the light of the adverse comments in the CAG report saying that the CAG, while preparing the report, considered the estimates of 1986 , according to which the outlay was Rs. 480 crores, as the reference cost. Thus, the CAG had ignored the actual cost which was finalised at Rs 1,166 crores in 1991 when the project was actually approved by the Planning Commission and which had gone up later due to various reasons.

Mr. Parthasarathy, however, admitted that there was inordinate delay in finalising the project and this was due to lack of coordination between the erstwhile APSEB and the Irrigation department. He made it clear that the underground powerhouse would be able to generate 1,500 million units annually when the turbines were run in conventional direction and 1,600 million units with the help of water redrawn from the reservoir.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Fervour, piety mark celestial wedding

Srisailam power unit commissioned

CPI to intensify stir against power reforms

YSR `convinces' Sonia on free power

TDP charge refuted

Hospital staff blamed for patient's death