View of North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) near Ennore. |Photo credit: PICHUMANI K
The Southern Regional Load Dispatch Center (SRLDC) has flagged partial power outage at state-owned thermal generating units, including North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) units, due to technical issues.
Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) currently has an installation capacity of 4,320 MW. These include North Chennai Thermal Power Station-II (2×600 MW) with a total capacity of 1200 MW, North Chennai Thermal Power Station-I (3×210 MW) with a capacity of 630 MW, Mettur Thermal Power Station-I (4×210 MW) with a capacity of 840 MW, Mettur Thermal Power Station-II has a capacity of 600 MW and Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (5×210 MW) has a capacity of 1,050 MW.
In March this year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the 800-MW Chennai North Thermal Power Project Phase III. Once the plant reaches 800 MW unit capacity and operates continuously for 72 hours, it will be considered a power plant.
In a letter to the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (Tantransco), SRLDC stated that state-owned thermal generators such as the North Chennai Thermal Power Station have reported partial and prolonged power outages in September 2024 due to technical issues.
According to data shared by SRLDC, North Chennai Thermal Power Station-II experienced partial power generation disruption in September with a power generation capacity of over 100 MW and close to 500 MW. It called for early resolution of technical issues to ensure maximum power generation to meet the state’s high electricity demand.
Meanwhile, SRLDC also pointed out the issue of Kadamparai pumped storage unit being out of service. The pumped storage power station has a total of 4 units, each with a capacity of 100 MW. Kadamparai Unit 1 has been out of service since June 22 and Unit 2 has been out of service since September 16. Hours of maintenance of power generation mode, it noted and called for early restoration of these units.
Published – November 7, 2024, 6:56 pm (IST)
