HYDERABAD

The third unit of the 5×800 megawatt Yadadri Thermal Power Station near Veerlapalem in Damaracherla mandal of Nalgonda district, which was declared commercially operational on May 13 night, had suffered a major fire accident on Sunday afternoon.

Fire tenders were rushed to the power plant to prevent the fire spreading to adjacent units and put it off. According to the project engineers, the fire was brought under control within a couple of hours after it broke out.

After a preliminary assessment, the engineers have come to a basic understanding that the fire broke out due to oil (lubrication) leakage in the turbine-driven boiler feed pump area. Dark smoke engulfed the power plant within minutes after the fire broke out. Equipment such as control cables and valves were damaged badly in the mishap.

Senior executives of the power plant and Telangana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TG-Genco) rushed to the project site to oversee the restoration work. The first unit of the plant also suffered a similar fire accident in April last year. When contacted, the Genco officials said they were assessing the exact reasons for the mishap.

Trial runs of the third unit were commenced andn has so far generated 486.73 million units of energy including about 35 million units of firm power since it became commercially operational on May 13 and the rest as infirm energy. No worker or engineer suffered any injury in the accident since the attendance was thin.