Addressing the media, Jaamdar said power generation at the crisis-ridden RTPS was 400 MW on Monday, rising to 770 MW on Tuesday, with the 6th and 7th units beginning to function. With the 1st and 2nd units beginning to work by Wednesday morning, the production was expected to reach 900 MW.
The RTPS has seven production units of 210 MW each and the station has been plagued with production problems.
The production plummeted on Sunday with the 1st, 2nd and 4th units shut down and with only the 3rd, 5th and 6th functioning. Thus, on Wednesday all units barring the 4th unit which was undergoing annual maintenance checks, would be functioning, Jaamdar said.
He blamed the frequent technical problems at RTPS to lack of skills, responsibility and co-ordination among officials. Taking a tough line, he said that by another two days stringent action would be taken to increase the production.
“There is need for major surgery at this hour,”Jaamdar said in a warning directed at the officials. He said that there is no scarcity of coal at RTPS. The problems lay in the coal conveyer system which suffered from poor maintenance, non-functioning of the crusher unit, and supply of washed coal. There was no shortage of coal with 1.58 lakh tonnes of coal in stock.
Jaamdar said KPCL had sent a proposal for the modernisation of the 25-year units at RTPS. While the seven units had a power generation capacity of 1470 MW, only 1190 MW is being produced. However, only 1,000 MW would be produced till November, as units 1 and 2 have to be renovated for the station to reach its installed capacity.