Andhra Pradesh: Power outages increase by one third in state

Hyderabad: The total number of outages of both thermal and hydel units has increased by one third in the last one year alone, according to an internal report from the AP discoms.

The report has also hinted that the overhaul process will take longer given the long gaps in annual overhauls. The number of breakdowns on any given day is now ranging between one to 10.

Currently there are seven simultaneous outages in AP plants due to equipment failure. They include four units of RTPP, one unit of VTPS and one unit each of Machkund and Srisailam.

The primary reason for frequent wear and tear related outages, as pointed out by experts is use of inferior quality coal and over-use of machinery, leading to serious technical issues.

Undivided AP, according to records of APGenco, lost close to 860 mu of power generation on account of overhauls of power plants in the last two years alone.

“Issues like boiler tube leakage, thrust bearing temperature being high, tailrace trash rack construction and leakages from governor oil sump, among others have been the most common issues. Sometimes these wear and tear issues take a long time to repair and at other times the issues recur."

"The plants have been running like this for a long time. The situation of hydel plants is no different either, as each has shut down for days together for maintenance issues at least once a month, said a highly placed source.

The internal report, which was prepared prior to the split, has specified that the Plant Load Factor of the thermal plants has decreased substantially to around 65 currently. It can be increased up to 95 percent in ideal conditions.

For instance the current PLF of the Rayalaseema Thermal Power station is 57, with Unit III recording a record low of 38.