Post News Network
Banarpal, April 13: Managing ash discharged from the captive power plant (CPP) of Nalco here in Angul district has turned out to be a major irritation for the aluminum major as work on a lean slurry project is yet incomplete even as four years have passed.
Notwithstanding the urgency of its early completion, the `100 crore project is only half complete. A private firm Usha Project India Pvt Ltd had received the contract of the project and was required to complete the work in 11 months.
However, it made changes in the project five times and is yet to complete it despite the passage of four years. The project will have pipelines drawn from the CPP passing through Nalco railway line cutting across villages like Gotamara, Balaramprasad, Kuspangi, Pingua, Tentoi, Ekagharia, Kukudanga, Gobara, Karnapur, Baulapaur, and Badajorada before finally ending in the mining region of Talcher.
The delay has triggered resentment among Nalco employees as it is slowly eating into the performance of the aluminum major and causing losses. According to sources, some senior officials and the contracted firm are responsible for the delay.
Sources said huge amount of ash is discharged daily from the CPP which was established to maintain constant power supply to the smelter plant of the company. The CPP generates about 12,300 megawatt of power daily from its 10 electrical units and requires 12 to 13,000 metric tonne of coal daily to make it
operational.
The use of coal results in discharge of huge amount of ash, which has has accumulated over the years and resulted in the closure of four of the 10 units. This has adversely affected the functioning of the smelter pot of the plant, sources said.
The ash discharged from the CPP is stored in the ash pond which is now filled to the brim and can no more contain ash.
The lean slurry project which was born out of an effort to save the CPP is at stake and has pushed the future of the company into uncertainty, sources said. However, CPP general manager KK Panda said efforts are on to complete the project by December end. It will be of great help in discharging the ash, he added.
