Power generation hit at fourth unit.

The fourth unit of Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS) broke down on Friday due to technical snag.

The TTPS, having five 210 MW units, is generating power since 1979 and the fifth unit started producing electricity from 1992.

Power generation at the TTPS is hit frequently as the aged units that desperately need modernisation have started developing technical snags quite often.

When the duct conducting boiling water ruptured on October 16 last, three workers suffered serious burns and succumbed to their injuries. Besides obsolete technology, water scarcity has also started disrupting power generation at the TTPS.

As flow of water in the Tamirabarani has dwindled due to the dry spell in catchment areas of major reservoirs in Tirunelveli district, supply of water to the TTPS has been stopped which, in turn, has seriously affected the operation of the plants since January 7. As a stopgap arrangement, water is being obtained from nearby NTPL Power Station, which has established a desalination plant, to operate only two of the five units of the TTPS.

While the fourth and the fifth units were generating electricity, the remaining three units remained idle for want of water.

Against this backdrop, the fourth unit also broke down on Thursday night to leave the TTPS engineers in a spicy situation even as the demand for power is increasing with the onset of summer.

Even as the technicians were working overtime to bring the fourth unit back on track, the first unit was started on Friday evening to mitigate the situation to some extent.

Meanwhile, Chief Engineer T. Thangaraj has been shifted to Chennai. He has been replaced by K. Natarajan.

THE HINDU