Lehra best-run thermal plant

Lehra thermal plant to get water supply to keep running

PATIALA: Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant in Punjab continues to be the best run thermal plant in the country under state sector.

As per the latest report of the Central Electricity Authority, the Lehra plant achieved plant load factor (PLF) of 101.5 per cent for the month of March and is the only plant of state sector in country to achieve more than cent per cent PLF in March. It may be mentioned that a total of nine thermal plants of the country achieved more than cent per cent PLF.

According to official sources, the Lehra Mohabbat plant generated an all-time high of 7621.262 million units for the year 2011-12. Last record of maximum generation was 7515.158 billion units in 2009-10.The auxiliary consumption of the plant was also the lowest at 7.87 per cent. The CEA in its report claimed that the country achieved an all-time high electricity generation of 77.10 billion units (BU) in March. DP
Rajay Deep

Bathinda

Directed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the state irrigation department on Monday, finally assured the authorities of the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP), Lehra Mohabbat, that they would get the canal water by April 28, with the sole aim to keep the plant running uninterruptedly.

Witnessing the water reservoirs which began drying up, the thermal plant engineers on Saturday had raised an alarm to close down the 920 MW Plant by April 28 that threw the state government, already wading through a power crisis, into a tizzy.

The problem had emerged due to the long closure of Bathinda branch of the Sirhind canal which feeds the thermal plant with nearly 35-40 cusecs of water on daily basis. The canal was closed from Ropar head works on April 10 for 20 days that means the water was scheduled to release on April 30 and after travelling the distance, it was expected to reach Lehra Mohabbat by May 2-3.

As there was miscommunication between the irrigation department and the thermal plant authorities, when the engineers on Friday noticed the level of water stored in the reservoirs started depleting, worried they inquired and found the canal was closed for 20 days. The information led them to raise the alarm as quantity of water available with them could run the plant only up to April 28.

With the matter highlighted in papers, the CM was forced to intervene; he directed the irrigation officials to make all possible efforts to ensure the plant not being affected. Following the orders, irrigation officials, on Sunday, came up with a proposal to feed the thermal lakes with the ground water lifted through the tubewells installed in the nearby fields. The irrigation officials had selected 14 tubewells and contacting the farmers (owners) personally had even persuaded them to run for the cause. The hopeful officials of the irrigation department had even purchased hundreds of meters of polythene tubes to channel the lifted water.

However, the thermal authorities receiving the information of the irrigation department’s plan rejected it out rightly, saying the ground water was unfit to be used in the plant as the presence of heavy metals in it could invite trouble for boilers. In the absence of any alternate, the pressurised irrigation department, finally, on Monday, informed the thermal authorities to release the water in canal by April 26 to ensure it reached the thermal lakes before their deadline of April 28.

Executive engineer, irrigation department, Nirmal Singh Brar said, “We have received a message from the headquarters that the water will be released in the canal by the morning of April 26.” Speaking further, he informed that the department would release nearly 1300 cusecs of water which would reach Bathinda by April 28.

The plant also developed some technical snag in the machinery and two of its units automatically stopped working. Sources informed Daily Post that with the tripping of two units the generation capacity of the 920 MW thermal plant had reduced to exactly half. According to information, 210 MW Unit II had developed problem in its boiler on Sunday, while 250 MW unit III had been affected due to leakage in the lubrication chamber of the turbine on Saturday.