With the stipulated date for permanent shutdown of the eight old units of the Palvancha-based Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS) (O&M) complex with a total capacity of 720 MW fast approaching, the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TS-Genco) has embarked on an exercise to redeploy the workforce of these units to other thermal and hydel power stations in the State.
The major redeployment exercise was necessitated following the decision of the TS-Genco to permanently phase out all the eight units of the KTPS (O&M) complex by March 31 this year.
The units that outlived their utility and lined up for permanent closure include four units of 60 MW capacity each and four units of 120 MW capacity each of the KTPS (O&M).
All of them are more than four-decades-old and had outlived their shelf life several months ago. Three of these eight units have already stopped power generation, sources said.
The phasing out of these old units with high emission levels has become imperative to comply with the norms of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and fulfill a condition reportedly stipulated by the Central government agency to phase out these old units while giving clearance to the KTPS’s 800 MW super critical unit in 2015.
The KTPS’s 800 MW super critical unit-12 of stage VII was declared commercially operational in December 2018.
However, power generation in the unit came to a halt at the fag end of last year due to some technical glitches in its turbine. Efforts are on to carry out repairs on a war footing and resume power generation in the unit well ahead of the phasing out of the eight old units, sources added.
Around 547 engineers of various cadres of the KTPS (O&M) have been redeployed to various power stations including the KTPS’s Stage VII, Kakatiya Thermal Power Station at Bhupalapalli, Jurala hydel power station and the Bhadradri thermal power station, which is under construction at Manuguru, sources said.
The process of redeployment of the remaining workforce including foremen and plant attendants of the KTPS (O&M) complex has been hastened up to complete the whole exercise in the next fortnight.
