The restoration of the Unit III of the 720MW Mangdechhu Hydropower Plant in Trongsa will take another four months. The unit stopped functioning since September last year after a flashover inside the unit has burnt stator windings and other components of the turbine. However, according to project officials, there is no loss in power generation so far as the problem had occurred during lean season when the volume of water was just enough to run the remaining three turbines.
Currently, maintenance works are in full swing. Since the problem occurred during the Operation and Maintenance period of the project, the MHP is repairing the machine along with the Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, an Indian company. The company supplied the electro-mechanical equipment to the project. According to the project officials, it took time for the Indian company to deliver the required parts amid the pandemic adding other COVID-19 travel restrictions also hampered the progress. The project management is expecting to complete the works within the scheduled deadline of July this year. The restoration of the unit is estimated to cost Nu 162 M.
Mangdechhu hydropower plant has four units each with a capacity to generate 180 MW of electricity.
Since its commissioning two years ago, the project generated about 4783.87 units of power and around Nu 19.5bn in revenue.
Mangdechhu hydropower plant is constructed at a cost of close to Nu 51.443bn – 30 % as grant and 70 % loan from India.
Passang, Trongsa
