TNPGCL team inspects fire-hit thermal station in Thoothukudi
The fire broke out on Saturday night causing significant damage to electric wires that resulted in the breakdown of power generation from some of the units.
Thoothukudi thermal plant fire
MADURAI: A team led by Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL), Alby John Varghese on Monday inspected the premises of Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS), which suffered a major fire in the cable gallery in the control room of unit one and two of the plant.
The fire broke out on Saturday night causing significant damage to electric wires that resulted in the breakdown of power generation from some of the units. TTPS has a total of five units with a capacity of 210 MW each.
The team inspected the plant and took stock of the restoration works being carried out by the personnel.
After the inspection, a meeting was convened at the Thoothukudi Collectorate. While talking to reporters, the Managing Director said with the aid of the Fire Safety Department and District Administration, the crews managed to contain the fire.
Water tenders from the Fire Department in Thoothukudi and its neighbouring districts including Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Kanniyakumari and Madurai stepped up their efforts in extinguishing the fire. It took almost 18 hours to douse the flame. Except for damage caused to the electric wires, there is no loss of human life.
A team of engineers would assess the damage caused by the fire, which was completely contained by the firefighters at around 6 pm, on Sunday.
The team would repair the damage after the assessment to restore normalcy and resume power generation from the first and the second unit at the earliest. Even though the fire was put out completely, the heat of the fire could still be felt and the team could hardly get access to the affected portions.
The third unit suffered minor damage and the Managing Director added that TTPS is primarily important as far as Tangedco is concerned and therefore restoration works would soon be taken up to complete the task. The restoration works in units one and two may last two or three months, he said.
Thoothukudi Collector K Elambahavath and others were present.
