A generator at the power station of the Sabarigiri hydroelectric project developed a snag on Friday evening, forcing the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to shut it down, causing a 60-MW dip in internal power generation.
The shortage can be met without resorting to load-shedding or other power restrictions, senior officials of the State power utility said.
Generator 6 tripped due to a stator winding failure around 5 p.m. on Friday, said Siji Jose, director (generation), KSEB, after inspecting the damage on Saturday accompanied by Rajan K. R., chief engineer (generation).
The 340-MW Sabarigiri project is Kerala's second biggest in the category.
After Friday's incident, the number of operational generators at the station is down to four. The power station has six generators — four 55-MW machines and two 60-MW ones — but Unit 4 has been non-functional for over a year due to technical problems.
Repairs of the sixth generator are expected to take a month to complete, Mr. Rajan said. The generator dates back to the 1960s, when the power project was commissioned, but it underwent a revamp in 2005, KSEB officials said.
Meanwhile, the KSEB management is expected to take a decision on Unit 4 unit next week. This machine had replaced a unit which was destroyed in an explosion at the station in 2008.
The power station is down to four generators at a time when soaring summer temperatures have triggered a rise in electricity demand in the State. The KSEB recorded a consumption of 88.92 million units (mu) on Friday, with internal generation contributing 32.39 mu (out of this, hydel generation accounted for 31.13 mu).
Incidentally, the KSEB was planning to start work on replacing the stator windings on the generators of this hydel project in 2022-23 and get it completed by in 2025-26.
