The Unit-3 of the 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Plant (MHEP) in Trongsa will soon be operational after nearly a year. The restoration of the turbine is almost complete. There are four units that generate 180MW of electricity each.
Unit-3 remained shut down since September last year after developing some electrical fault. The turbine was under maintenance ever since. Plant officials are now optimistic that the turbine will start generating power by next Friday. They will be testing the machine one last time this week.
Operation and Maintenance officials from Hydropower plants across the country are jointly carrying out the maintenance. Officials say that despite the pandemic, the plant had no issues in the procurement of maintenance materials which otherwise could have impeded the works.
Unit-3 was operational for over 4,500 hours while the other three Units, which were in full swing, were operated for 11,000 hours on an average so far after the plant was commercially commissioned in 2019.
The other three units are generating 197 MW of electricity each, beyond its capacity of 180 MW as of yesterday.
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, an Indian Company, executed the construction works of turbines. And for now, the discussion about the fixation costs between the plant management and the contractor is underway.
Meanwhile, during the last Parliament session, the Finance Minister said the frequent shutdown of the turbine has led to a revenue loss of more than Nu 1.3bn since its commissioning. However, according to an official from the MHEP, the plant has achieved the designed power generation last year even with Unit-3 under maintenance. The plant was designed to generate close to 3,000 million units of electricity but it generated more than 3,200 million units last year earning revenue of Nu 13.5bn exceeding the estimated revenue of more than Nu 11.8bn.
The officials also said that all the units will have to undergo routine maintenance alternately but the loss is compensated by generating extra power from the working machines.
Passang, Trongsa
Edited by Sonam
