Commercial productions of the 726-MW gas-based thermal power plant at Palatana in Tripura's Gomati district have been hit due to fuel supply problems and faults in two booster compressors.
The two 34-tonne gas booster compressors were sent to the BHEL headquarters at Hyderabad by two trucks with long trailers by road yesterday after a specially designed IAF aircraft- IL-76 (Gajaraj) on Tuesday declined to carry those machines for its over weight, official sources said.
"About one months time would be required for taking the machines to Hyderabad and bring it back. Repairing time can not be predicted right now, but BHEL officials assured to start repairing with utmost importance as soon as it reached there," sources in ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC) said.
It was decided that the announcement for commercial generation of the project, which is supposed to cater to the needs of all the North Eastern states, would be given after the inauguration of it by President Pranab Mukherjee on June 21 last, but trouble for supplying gas to the plant started immediately after that.
Gas supply was disrupted due to formation of dirt in the gas supply line which was cleared by ONGC by a "special pigging operations" by experts from abroad.
Sources said, immediately after the pigging operation was completed, problems in gas booster compressors were marked out.
ONGC has built the project to monetise natural gas reserves it has discovered in Tripura. These reserves are yet to be commercially developed due to low industrial demand in the North-Eastern region.
The foundation stone of the plant was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2005.
