Pressure Tunnel work at Andhra Pradesh's Polavaram Power Plant launched

West Godavari (Andhra Pradesh)[India], August 7 (ANI): Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Limited (AP GENCO) officials have inaugurated the excavation of the work of Pressure tunnels in the Polavaram project for the Hydroelectric power station.
The Andhra Pradesh government has facilitated the work on the 960 MW hydropower plant in the Polavaram multipurpose project.
The work that began on Friday is being done by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) Company. While the Department of Water Resources has been overseeing the excavation work during the construction of the Polavaram Hydroelectric Power Station. While GENCO officials are looking after the excavation of key preserve tunnels and all other work related to the hydropower plant.
As part of the construction of the Polavaram project, the government has decided to build a hydropower plant also. The project will store 194 TMC of water, once construction is completed. Out of this, 120 TMC of water is used for hydropower generation and irrigation purposes. The remaining 70 TMCs will be stored.
The Polavaram project will help to cultivate 10.5 lakh acres of land under the right and left canals. To stabilize this, water is used for electricity generation by the Polavaram Hydroelectric Power Station.
There are no major hydroelectric power stations on the Godavari River. The existing plants are having very low capacity. The state is likely to have a surplus due to the electricity generated in Polavaram. It can generate revenue by the sale of power. Further, there is the possibility of the establishment of new industries.
"The Polavaram Hydroelectric Power Station is being built with a capacity of 960 MW of hydroelectric capacity. It will have 12 vertical Kaplan turbines with a capacity of 80 MW each. For these, 12 pressure tunnels have to be dug. Each tunnel is 145 meters long and 9 meters deep. These will have 12 generator transformers, each with a capacity of 100 MW. For the power project, a 206 m long approach channel, 294 m wide, will have to be dug," stated in the release.
MEIL has expedited the construction of the hydropower plant with the help of the government to complete the construction work on time.
Genco SE-S Seshareddy, EE's A. Somayya, C. Hanuma, Electrical EE Y. Bhimadhana Rao, Water Resources Department EE Pandurangarao, MEIL Vice President Rangarajan, GM Muddu Krishna, AGM Kranti Kumar, and Coordinator Tagore Chand were present on the occasion. They conducted special pujas and started excavation works of tunnels. (ANI)