Fire breaks out at Tata Power control plant, no casualties reported; Probe underway

Tata Power on Tuesday reported about a fire incident at its Trombay plant in Maharashtra.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, and no injuries or loss of life have been reported, the company said in an exchange filing.

“...there was a fire incident in the Control Room of Unit No 5 (500 MW unit) of Trombay Plant on September 23, 2024,” Tata Power said.

The company said it is in the process of assessing the actual damage caused by the fire.

There has been no disruption to Mumbai's power supply due to the incident, the company said.

“We also confirm that the plant is adequately insured, and the insurance firm has been duly informed,” it added.

On Monday, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd said it has received a patent for self-regenerating transformer breather for 20 years.

The 'Self-Regenerating Breather' is a device protecting a transformer from moisture ingress and thus, increases the longevity of electric transformers, the company said in a statement.

According to the statement, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power-DDL), a leading power utility supplying electricity to over 2 million customers in North Delhi, has been granted the patent for its unique self-regenerating transformer breather for a term of 20 years.

The patented technology is also expected to reduce the maintenance man-days for replacement of Silica gel in a transformer's breather to protect it from moisture damage, the statement said.

With the new technology, Silica gel will be required to be checked or replaced only during the transformer maintenance schedule, which is generally once in two years. In contrast, in the conventional design, Silica gel needs to be replaced 4-6 times before a maintenance schedule of 2 years, it said.

Tata Power DDL's Engineering team developed and successfully tested the 'self-regenerating breather' in December 2015, it said.

The pilot installation of 20 breathers was done in 2016-17, which showed remarkable results. The company filed for a patent of 'self-regenerating breather' technology in 2016.