According to Gridco sources, the power circuit units at Budhipadar and Tarakara were damaged due to heavy lightning and storm at around 10 pm last night. The natural disaster also caused damage to two units of IB thermal plant, 600 MW unit of Vedant power ltd and all units of Burla power leading to a severe shortage of electricity in the whole of western Odisha.
The 11 kv and 33 kv network system of the distribution companies were also damaged due to the storm. Even though the power generation was restored at Burla and Vedanta after a night long hardship, the electricity distribution has been hindered due to snapping of towers. It has also led to a heavy load situation at the major power generation units, official sources said. However, efforts are on to restore normalcy by evening, sources added.
“One unit at Budhipadar was damaged first and then another at Tarakara circuit that led to disruption of power supply. The power distribution companies also suffered heavy losses as their 11 and 33 KV electric wires were snapped at many places”, Commercial Director of Grido PK Pradhan said.
“The distribution companies have been asked to repair the snapping wires by evening so that we will able to normalise the situation by evening 8pm”, Pradhan added.