IEEE PELS Student Branch Chapter, Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru visited the Shivanasamudra Hydro Power Plant, Solar Power Plant and Bhoruka Hydro Plant on 25th March, 2017, as a part of their industrial visits initiative. They first visited the Shivanasamudra Hydro Power Plant where the river Kaveri divides into two waterfalls that together make the Shivanasamudra. Maj. A.J. De Lotebiniere, the then deputy chief engineer of Mysore state, established this first hydro power station on June 30, 1902, and it is the first of its kind. A 700 KW hydro electric station was later launched by the resident General of Mysore state, Donald Robertson. The technicians at the power plant gave a detailed description of its operation.
The students also visited Shivanasamudra Solar Power Plant. This is the largest solar power plant commissioned for KPCL till date in the state, the third MW- scale project commissioned by BHEL for KPCL. In this plant, 20 serially connected panels and 16 parallel connected panels form one SMPU. From each SMPU a total of 104 KW power is generated. They learned how the operation of the inverter was monitored with the help of the display units and how the data is tracked with the help of SCADA.
The students then visited the Bhoruka Hydro power plant. The turbine used in this plant is Kaplan which rotates vertically and fully submerged in the water. At the end of a long day, the students shared that it have been very informative to see the different methods of generating electricity and the various engineering challenges that had been overcome.
