The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in Pakistan has carried out major repair work at the 175MW unit 2 of the Tarbela hydro project. Described as ‘a feat second to none’ by WAPDA sources, the work is reported to have saved the authority RS22.822M.
The windings of unit 2 were damaged due to a sudden technical fault during production in January 1996.
The original manufacturers of the machine, Hitachi of Japan, had requested RS22.82M to repair the unit, plus the cost of materials. WAPDA engineers, however, decided to take up the challenge.
Temporary repairs of the unit were carried out using an available spare B-class winding. The unit was returned to full commercial operation in July 1996 before being completely rehabilitated between December 1997 and June 1998 when F-class rewinding of the unit was carried out. WAPDA engineers worked around the clock during this time and even completed the job 16 days ahead of schedule.
