Another boiler puncture at North Chennai Thermal Power Station

This is the third consecutive week that the power production is hit at the plant for the same reason, which, sources say, points to poor upkeep.

“Third unit in Stage-I of NCTPS, with a power production capacity of 210 mw, was shut down due to a puncture in the boiler. Efforts are on to restore it as soon as possible,” an official source at the power station told DT Next.

According to officials, the boiler puncture happened in the early hours of Saturday, forcing them to stop the unit immediately. Workers were fixing the glitches and the operation would resume soon, sources added.

Last Saturday, the first unit of Stage-II that has a power production capacity of 600 mw and third unit of Stage-I with a capacity of 210 mw were shut down owing to the same reason. When it finally became operational again on Wednesday, four days had gone by. A week prior to that, on January 19, the boilers in the same two units were punctured, which had hit the generation of 810 mw.

NCTPS houses three units in Stage-I plant, each with 210 mw power production capacity, and two units in Stage-II, each with 600 mw capacity. The power station, one of the largest thermal power plants in Tamil Nadu which caters mainly to the power demands of the capital city, has a total power production capacity of 1,830 mw.

Officials also said that power supply in city will not be affected as alternate arrangements have been made.

A temporary contract worker died on Sunday after falling down from a height of 77 metres while replacing a boiler in the third unit of Stage-I, police said.

Gurupreet Singh from Punjab was standing on an elevated plank to assist engineers when the mishap happened. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.

The Minjur police rushed to the spot and took the body to the Ponneri Government Hospital for autopsy. The police have registered a case and are investigating.