Lights out for Ennore thermal power plant

ETPS (Ennore Thermal Power Station) Tangedco’s (TN Generation and Distribution Corporation) oldest thermal unit with an installed capacity of 450 MW in Tamil Nadu will be permanently closed on March 31, this year, highly placed sources informed DTNext. 

However, officials allayed fears of the state facing power problems during peak summer stating, “We expect peak demand to touch slightly more than 15,000 MW, which the Corporation with its installed capacity of more than 17,000 MW, can handle.” 

The plant comprising five units— two 60 MW units and three 110 MW units—was erected between 1970 and 1975 at a cost of Rs.270 crore. According to informed sources  “The plant had the lowest PLF (Plant Load Factor) of 35.42% (in 2010-11) among the four major thermal units in the state. Considering its age the government decided to replace it with another new plant.” 

Retired hurt: Top officials said the closure followed the central government’s stipulation that plants more than 25 years old which had undergone R&M (Repair and Maintenance) for another 10 years, needed to be closed due to escalating operational cost.  

Officials said an expansion project mooted for the plant included a 660 MW unit for which work was currently under way. Estimated at more than Rs 5,000 crore it was expected to be completed in two years time. “Meanwhile, another unit of the same capacity is expected to come up in the place of the soonto-be-defunct unit. The cost of this unit is being worked out,” sources added. “This would necessitate removal of the old plant and replacing it with the new unit which would have the latest, state-of-the art technology” sources added. 

News of ETPS becoming defunct and expansion of the new unit needing another two years for completion have raised fears whether the city would be able to tide over peak summer, when power demand goes through the roof, specially due to prevailing drought conditions and lack of water. Due to this, hydro power stations having only 25 per cent water availability, cannot bail out Tangedco. 

Peak demand: It may be recalled that peak power demand and consumption on April 24 last year was 15343 MW and 345.617 MU (million units), the highest till now. However, peak demand this Tuesday (March 27) was 13, 669 MW, while lighting peak (at night when lights are switched on) at 7.20 pm a day earlier was 14, 525 MW. 

Worries are due to the fact that the major share of power demand is met by thermal units. On Tuesday, the demand was 3,785 MW against the total capacity of 4,660 MW. Hydro units account for 2,310 MW and gas power stations another 516.08 MW. “Tangedco will be able to tide over the summer as its total installed capacity is 17,881 MW,” officials aver. 

Asked whether there were outage issues for the Corporation’s units, officials said, “Outages are due to various reasons. While 220 MW unit I of MAPS and the 500 MW unit II of TTPS (Thoothukudi Thermal Power Station) were closed due to outages on March 19 and March 22, respectively, for annual maintenance, the Neyveli 250 MW, unit II was shut due to an outage caused by a boiler puncture on March 14, while the 500 MW Vallur thermal unit was shut down on March 25 due to a boiler tube leak. The Kudankulam 1,000 MW unit shut down on March 12 for a dynamic trips test.” 

Residents hope officials deliver on their optimism. 

Power outages in March 2017 have occurred due to regular maintenance checks or unforeseen leaks.

March 12, Kudankulam (1,000 MW): Dynamic trips test. 

March 14, Neyveli unit II (250 MW): Boiler puncture. 

March 19, MAPS unit I (220 MW): Annual maintenance. 

March 22, TTPS unit II (500 MW): Annual maintenance. 

March 25, Vallur (500 MW): Boiler tube leak