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Saturday, 28 August 2010 |
 In Uttara Kannada, the dams are thirsty and the turbines have fallen silent. An erratic monsoon has caused power generation from the Kali Hydro Electric to drop, drastically.
The Kali Hydro Electric project, the first to be executed by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), consists of five dams and four power houses with an installed capacity of 1,225 MW.
At present, it is not able to generate more than 631 MW a day.
The project consists of five dams - Supa gravity dam (101 m), Kodasalli Dam, Kadra Dam, Bommanahalli pickup dam from where water is diverted to the Nagzari power house, and Tattihalla storage dam. The Tattahalli storgae dam replenishes the Bommanahalli Dam and helps integrate operations of other reservoirs.
The water level in all these reservoirs is much less when compared to the corresponding period last year. At Supa, the water level is at 541 metres - midway from the dead storage level (the minimum required for power generation) of 520 metres and the full reservoir level (FRL) of 564 metres.
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Friday, 27 August 2010 |
 You just can't keep Bellary out of any power discourse in Karnataka. Its rich mine lords wield enormous political power, and now, the Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS), which generates 10 per cent of Karnataka's power, is critical for the state's energy needs.
When BTPS UnitIII gets going in 2013, with capacity of 1700 MW, the plant will rival the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) in terms of power generation.
But all is not well with the plant. BTPS was shut for a week recently because of explosion in one of its boilers - another area where, experts say, it is emulating the notoriously fragile RTPS.
"There was an explosion in the boiler due to which the plant had to be shut down for a week," BTPS Executive Director, G Ratnamma told Express. The explosion occurred due to accumulation of ash, Ratnamma added.
She said the BTPS has maintained a plant load factor 70 to 80 percent, which is above average. Plant load factor is the average capacity utilisation by the power plant.
The explosion, say experts, can be attributed to two things: poor quality of coal used and shoddy maintenance of the boiler.
"The accumulation of ash is because of the use of poor quality of coal. The residue sticks to the water wall, and is difficult to remove," said an expert who does wish to be identified. |
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Wednesday, 25 August 2010 |
 The Kaiga nuclear power project in Uttara Kannada district was ushered in with the hope that it would significantly lessen the state's power woes. Today, however, all such hopes have evaporated.
Kaiga power generating station consists of three heavy water plants capable of producing 220 MWe (Megawatt electrical). The present production from the three units is 396 MWe - the units are operating at less than 60 per cent capacity.
The reason behind the below par performance, say sources in Kaiga, is the lack of availability of nuclear fuel, uranium in this case.
Also, not all of the power
generated at Kaiga is distributed in Karnataka. The power is transmitted to southern regional grid which includes Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Karnatka's share, say sources, is meagre. |
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Monday, 23 August 2010 |
Five people were killed and 7 others injured when a jeep carrying them collided with a lorry on National Highway 9 near Indira Nagar in Talamadgi village of Humnabad taluk in the Bidar district on Sunday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Raju s/o Suresh (29), Srikant s/o Dilip (23), Mukund s/o Vilas (32) Kapil s/o Ajar (29). The jeep driver also died but his identity is not known yet, police said. |
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Saturday, 21 August 2010 |
 From the border town of Bellary, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Sawaraj set her sights on Andhra Pradesh and fixed a target of 10 years for the BJP to capture power there.
She was in Bellary to address the Jana Jagruthi Samavesha organised by the BJP. The BJP leader took a swipe at the Congress for its constant criticism of the BJP and the Reddy brothers of Bellary.
“Congress leaders want to discuss illegal mining issue in public. But they disappear when the matter comes up for a discussion in the Lok Sabha. It shows their double standards,” Swaraj told the one-lakh strong crowd. |
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