The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : 10 units of Kothagudem thermal complex trip

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

10 units of Kothagudem thermal complex trip

Special Correspondent

Sequel to havoc wrought by gale on seven towers

FALLING FLAT: A twisted tower of the high tension line at Budidampadu on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Seven towers of the 220-KV high tension line, used for transmission of power from the Kothagudem thermal complex, either collapsed or were twisted at Budidampadu on the borders of Khammam and Warangal districts due to strong gales on Monday night.

In a cascading effect, nine out of the 10 units of the Kothagudem complex tripped. The complex is considered lifeline of the State's supply system, especially during the summer months when hydel generation is low. The grid lost 930 MW, equivalent to the capacity of the nine tripped units, out of the Kothagudem's total of 1,1280 MW. Supply was affected in some pockets of Khammam, Warangal and Nalgonda districts.

The distribution system escaped a major disaster when the HT wires of the Kothagudem transmission line fell on another 220-KV line supplying power to Miryalaguda side. The breakers, available on both lines as part of an in-built safety system, got activated and insulated the lines from each other and islanded the nine stations. With 930 MW going off, the grid's frequency fell to a precarious level of 48.5 cycles. Transco engineers swung into action and activated the Miryalaguda line by Tuesday afternoon. G. Kesava Rao, Director (Transmission) told The Hindu here that it would take two days to repair the twisted towers and resume supply on the other line. Power supply, however, was resumed to all affected areas through alternative routes.

Transco to tap dam

Meanwhile, Transco has decided to drain out water from the Srisailam dam by generating power and store it in Nagarjunasagar. This is to facilitate construction of the weir across the Krishna required by the left bank powerhouse to work in pumping mode.

Staff Reporter in Khammam adds: A damage assessment team led by the Chief Engineer (tower-lines), Pratap Sinha Raju, reached Budidampadu. Mr. Raju said four groups were engaged in dismantling the mangled towers. About 92 to 100 tonnes steel would go into the erection of new towers in the same location.

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