The stagnant condition of the Hirakud Dam Power System has not been resolved

The stagnant condition of the Hirakud Dam Power System has not been resolved

The Diamond Reservoir is overflowing. But power generation has not been enough. Power outages and downturns in power systems have led to a 40 percent reduction in power generation. This is the case now as four units of Burla Shaktikendra have been shut down since 2014. While the Hirakud power system has a daily power generation capacity of 38.5 MW, it can now generate an average of 180 MW. Debashis Mishra, manager of Burla Shaktikendra, said the machines had been repaired and would be delivered by 2021. This means that this neonatal state in power generation is likely to continue until next year.

The decision on how many megawatts of electricity will be generated in a month from the Hirakud power system is made a month in advance. The goals are set by a high-level committee sitting in the presence of departmental heads of irrigation, diamond projects, floodwaters, etc. The goal is to take into account the capabilities of the units and their status, Shaktikendra authorities said. However, the production target has to be reduced as 9 out of 10 units are out of order.

The Burla Shaktikendra, located in Stage 7-1 of Hirakud Power System 7, has a total of 7 units. Out of these 4 units, the total electricity generation capacity is 245.5 units. But four of those units are now out of order. Only units 2, 3 and 4 are now operational. Units 5 and 6 have been out of order since 2017, and new units will be installed in the two locations. Similarly, Unit 9 was shut down last year due to a short circuit. But that also didn't work out. Unit 1, which has been out of order since 2016, has not been able to function due to the negligence of the departmental authorities. The Chipilima power plant, which is in Stage 4-2, has a power generation capacity of 42 MW from 3 units. For the past six months, one unit of the power plant has been out of order. The unit has been operational for a month and a half. However, the total power could not be generated.