The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) is losing an estimated Rs 12 lakh every day due to damage to its Kopili hydel project caused by acidic discharge from the unscientific coal mines of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.
The project built on the River Kopili, a tributary of the River Brahmaputra, has an installed capacity of 125 MW. The project has four major units with an installed capacity of 50 MW each.
However, in the past two years, two out of the four turbines of the project are routinely down for repair works, due to corrosion of its parts caused by acidity in the reservoir water.
Shut down of a single unit lowers production of the project and the revenue loss is Rs 6.19 lakh for a single day.
“For the past two years at least two, out of the four turbines, are routinely shut down for maintenance. The revenue loss therefore is over 12 lakh per day,” a senior NEEPCO official told theAssam Tribune.
The official said that most of the damage to the machinery is underwater as the Water of the River is acidic and has corroded the machine parts. “We are trying to replace the machine parts temporarily with stainless steel parts,” the official added.
The long term solution to the problem is of course in persuading the Meghalaya Government to put a check on the acidic discharge from the unscientific mining in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills.
Moreover, NEEPCO is also in touch with the Union Power Minister and there are also studies being conducted to find a solution to this problem. “IIT, Guwahati and others are also conducting research to find a solution to the problem, but until then NEEPCO is losing out on production and revenue,” the official maintained.
The Kopili hydro electric plant, the first hydro electric power plant constructed by NEEPCO, was commissioned in the year 1984 built on River Kopili which has its source in the upper reaches of Meghalaya. The plant comprises of two concrete dams- Khandong and Umrong dam.
Meghalaya and Assam are the two “host” States of the project as the reservoir falls in Meghalaya and the Power House is in Assam. Therefore, Meghalaya and Assam each gets 6 per cent free power from Kopili project.
Meanwhile, NEEPCO came out with a statement today stating that the “recent forced shutdown of the project was taken for safety of the power station as there was heavy leakage of water while running the units.” The leakages were caused due to corrosion of the machinery, NEEPCO said.
The project built on the River Kopili, a tributary of the River Brahmaputra, has an installed capacity of 125 MW. The project has four major units with an installed capacity of 50 MW each.
However, in the past two years, two out of the four turbines of the project are routinely down for repair works, due to corrosion of its parts caused by acidity in the reservoir water.
Shut down of a single unit lowers production of the project and the revenue loss is Rs 6.19 lakh for a single day.
“For the past two years at least two, out of the four turbines, are routinely shut down for maintenance. The revenue loss therefore is over 12 lakh per day,” a senior NEEPCO official told theAssam Tribune.
The official said that most of the damage to the machinery is underwater as the Water of the River is acidic and has corroded the machine parts. “We are trying to replace the machine parts temporarily with stainless steel parts,” the official added.
The long term solution to the problem is of course in persuading the Meghalaya Government to put a check on the acidic discharge from the unscientific mining in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills.
Moreover, NEEPCO is also in touch with the Union Power Minister and there are also studies being conducted to find a solution to this problem. “IIT, Guwahati and others are also conducting research to find a solution to the problem, but until then NEEPCO is losing out on production and revenue,” the official maintained.
The Kopili hydro electric plant, the first hydro electric power plant constructed by NEEPCO, was commissioned in the year 1984 built on River Kopili which has its source in the upper reaches of Meghalaya. The plant comprises of two concrete dams- Khandong and Umrong dam.
Meghalaya and Assam are the two “host” States of the project as the reservoir falls in Meghalaya and the Power House is in Assam. Therefore, Meghalaya and Assam each gets 6 per cent free power from Kopili project.
Meanwhile, NEEPCO came out with a statement today stating that the “recent forced shutdown of the project was taken for safety of the power station as there was heavy leakage of water while running the units.” The leakages were caused due to corrosion of the machinery, NEEPCO said.
