The power house of the Poringalkuthu hydro electric project in Thrissur district could be in for a major revamp with a new report recommending the replacement of penstock pipes and allied structures.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), which owns the project, has now constituted a nine-member technical panel to evaluate the recommendation made by the KSEB Chief Engineer (Generation), and inspect the structures which include the penstocks, which are pipes that carry water from the water source to the turbines, and butterfly valves.

The Poringalkuthu power house, which has four generators of 9 MW capacity each, comes under the KSEB’s Generation Circle, Thrissur and commissioned during 1957-1960. “The four numbers of Butterfly valves, the penstock and allied structures commissioned in the same period had exceeded their service life and notable defects had been identified in the inspection. These structures were not replaced or overhauled during previous machine renovation works,” the KSEB observed in an April 4 order forming the committee.

The basis for the formation of the panel headed by the chief engineer (projects) of the KSEB is a report submitted by the chief engineer in charge of power generation in the utility. The latter had submitted a detailed project report for the replacement of the butterfly valves, the penstocks and allied structures. Situated in Thrissur district, the Poringalkuthu project has its masonry dam built across the Chalakudy river. In 1999, the installed capacity of the project was enhanced from 36 MW to 52 MW by constructing a new power house under the Poringalkuthu Left Bank Extension Scheme.

The technical committee has as its members from both civil and electrical wings of the KSEB for evaluation and vetting of the DPR and inspections.