KKNPP Unit I shut again within month of resuming generation 

An official of the NPCIL said that due to some disturbance, the 1,000 MW Unit I was taken off the grid. “It is quite normal to have such disturbances in the units after a long overhaul. The unit will resume generation after attending to the issues,” said the official.

The Unit I of the nuclear plant has not been generating power since August last year except for a couple of days in November. The operation of the first unit was stopped on November 19 last year owing to high turbine vibration. The snag happened two days after the unit resumed generation following the annual maintenance for 108 days.

A senior Tangedco official said that the frequent snags in the KKNPP makes the units unreliable. “Because of the frequent tripping and long unavailability of the units, the load generation balance plan goes for a toss,” the official said, adding that they had in fact wanted the Unit I to resume generation only after September considering the surplus situation in the Southern states due to renewable energy availability combined with monsoon.

The second unit is running at 50 per cent load generating about 500 MW, the official said, adding that the Unit II would be taken out for generator replacement in November.