In a couple of weeks, a power project that promises to change the industrial horizon of the north-eastern States for ever, will begin commercial operations.
On trial run for the last couple of weeks, the first unit of the 2X 363.3 ONGC Tripura Power (OTPC) at Palatana in Tripura is set to start commercial operations by mid-February, provided the EPC contractor BHEL succeeds in stabilising the unit.
With the transmission line from Palatana to Silchar in Assam already having been commissioned and on course to be extended up to Byrnihat in Meghalaya by the end of this month, OTPC is confident to offer adequate load to run the unit at full capacity.
“We are only waiting for BHEL to stabilise the unit. It has failed to run at 200 MW load and is inoperative for the last 7-10 days. We are expecting BHEL to attend to the technical problems, as idling of the unit is costing is Rs 2 crore a day revenue potential,” an OTPC source told
BHEL didn’t deny that the unit has developed problems. But claimed that it was “normal” during the stabilisation period.
“The unit was running for three weeks at a lower load. Having given a higher load, we noticed certain errors. This is normal for stabilisation of any such high capacity unit. As a corporate policy, we will not handover the unit to OTPC, unless we are sure to have taken the corrective measures,” a senior BHEL official said.
“We are attending to the problem and are confident to address it in the next couple of days, following which the unit will be in our supervision for two weeks,” he added.
Transmission issues
Meanwhile, the North-East Power Transmission Company (NEPTC) — a joint venture between OTPC, Power Grid and the beneficiary States — is still awaiting forest clearances in parts of Assam to extend the line up to Bongaigaon to connect the Northern Grid.
Transmission towers on Brahmaputra
The company, however, is expecting the most difficult leg of the project crossing Brahmaputra to be over before the monsoon.
“We are hopeful to erect the transmission towers on Brahmaputra by June,” a source said.
Once completed, the entire transmission line from Palatana will pass through three States spanning 661 km.