THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s second largest hydel facility will turn more ‘powerful’ by April next - with a little Chinese ‘muscle.’By April 2012, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) hopes to have the Moozhiyar power station of the Sabarigiri hydel project running at full power. Chinese equipment has arrived for replacing the no:4 generator which was destroyed in an explosion on May 16, 2008, KSEB officials said. The generator and turbine, supplied by a Chinese firm Harbin (Kunming) Electrical Company Ltd, have reached the Chennai Port. Other equipment such as exciter and governor also are being imported from China. Once the new 60-MW machine is operational, the total capacity of the Moozhiyar station will go up by 5 MW to 340 MW, said Mohammed Ali Rawther, member (transmission and generation operations), KSEB. Originally, the station had five 55 MW generators and a 60 MW one, adding up to a maximum output of 335 MW. At present, four 55 MW machines and a 60-MW one are operational. For replacing unit IV, the KSEB had inked an MoU with Puissance de L’eau Power Systems Ltd. The accident in 2008 had left three dead and several injured, destroyed unit IV and damaged the other units, crippling the station. Units I and III were back on track by November 2009, bringing power generation up to 280 MW. Work on installing the unit will begin in a month’s time, Rawther said. The recent power crisis had seen the KSEB fall back heavily on hydel power after supply from the Central generation stations thinned. A tougher time lies ahead for the state’s power sector during the 2012 summer when daily power consumption is likely to cross the 60-million unit (MU) mark. A fully-recovered Sabarigiri project is expected to bring some relief to the beleaguered KSEB in such a scary scenario.
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