PALATANA, UDAIPUR ,September 8 (TIWN): After getting preliminary assurance from ONGC about Gas Supply to Unit-II of 726.6MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine(CCGT) Thermal Power plant of OTPC, BHEL officials are now targeting to start the trial run from the 3rd week of September. A BHEL official told TIWN on Sunday night," Already some of our Technical Experts have started to arrive in Palatana. We are hopeful to start trial run by the 3rd week of this month." However, he said that the final decision is likely to be taken on next week. It is to be mentioned that ONGC has recently installed a 16 inch pipeline to supply gas to Unit-II in Palatana. However, to start the trial run of Unit-II the shutdown in Unit-I is a must.

      An OTPC engineer explained ," It is one of the biggest problem now. Before commercial generation trial run is a must and it will take more than two weeks of time. More importantly the unit-II will have be run in full load(363MW) for atleast 72 hours at a stretch. Once it gets passed, BHEL will declare Unit-II ready for Commercial generation." According to TIWN sources it is learnt that North Eastern Power Grid don't have the capacity to accept 726MW. So even if the trial run begins , unit-I will have to be shutdown. With Durga Puja is ahead, it will be extremely risky. This has made BHEL to think twice before taking the final decision.

      Moreover, during the beginning of Commercial Generation from Unit-I some of the spare parts of Unit-II have been used. Though most of them have been reinstalled in Unit-II, still some of such spare parts have not yet arrived in Palatana. And till Sunday it is not confirmed whether these parts will come this week or not. Meanwhile with optimism BHEL has instructed its technical experts to start preparation for trial run from September 13 onwards. The question is whether TSECL and NERLDC will agree to take any risk before Durga Puja. Because if any technical snag arise at this moment, it will be impossible to give uninterrupted power supply during the Durga Puja, especially from Maha Sashthi to Bijoya Dashami. Considering all these into account BHEL may even opt out from their decision. However, final decision will be taken on 12 September when BHEL will hold a crucial meeting among its high level official in OTPC plant.