Two of the four turbines of the 720MW Mangdechhu Hydropower Project Authority’s (MHPA) are ready for the commissioning. Following a successful test, the machines are expected to generate power by May end.
The testing of the two turbines was carried out last month.
“The machines have behaved very well. There are no vibrations and noises in the machines. And I am sure that between April 22 -25, all the works for the spinning process would be ready. After that we will spin the machines,” A.K. Mishra, the Managing Director of MHPA, said.
Each of the project’s four units will produce 180 MW of electricity. With the other two units expected to start generating power in June, the MHPA will be fully commissioned after experiencing several delays.
The other two turbines, which are under construction, are also set to be ready within three weeks. Filling of the water reservoir at the Dam is also underway simultaneously. The water will be diverted through the desilting chamber once the water level is raised to the required height.
“We are filling water at the reservoir by two meters a day. In the first stage, we are filling up to minimum drawdown level or MDDL. The elevation is 17-30.5 meters. We started filling from 17-02 meters, so roughly we have to fill up to 28.5 meters which theoretically takes fourteen days to fill up the MDDL,” A.K. Mishra said.
Once the water is discharged from the desilting chamber, filling up of the entire tunnel will also begin. Nine meters of water will be filled on a daily basis which is expected to take about a week.
Meanwhile, they added there will be fluctuations in the water levels of the river once the water is diverted into the tunnel. The project management is cautioning people to remain vigilant and refrain from going near the river.
