Tangedco officials monitor power evacuation infra

CHENNAI: According to the sources, the cyclonic winds could cause damage to the evacuation infrastructure in the coastal areas leading to the tripping of generation stations.

“The men and materials are being kept ready to attend to any such incidents. We can only hope it does not affect the transmission lines or towers,” sources added.

When Cyclone Mandous made landfall near Mahabalipuram in December last year, Madras Atomic Power Stations at Kalpakkam faced difficulties over power evacuation with transmission lines tripping. During the cyclone Vardha in December 2016, North Chennai and Vallur Thermal Power Stations tripped during the storm.

Due to the cyclone and cooler weather prevailing in most of the state, the official said that power demand has come down to 12,055 MW on Sunday morning. “The power demand is expected to come down further tomorrow. Considering the low demand, 1500 MW capacity thermal units are backed down,” the official added.

Meanwhile, Finance and Electricity Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Tangedco CMD Rajesh Lakhani inspected Thurainallur 110 KV substation at Gummidipoondi on Sunday. “Since Tiruvallur district is expected to get heavy rainfall due to the cyclone, we have instructed the officials to keep close watch of the coastal areas on behalf of the government. The officials are ready to meet any eventuality. If any power outages happen, we have both workers and materials to attend to the work. We also have lorries, earthmovers and cranes for moving the equipment,” he told reporters.