Kerala – Backwaters

In addition to the popular beaches on the tropical Malabar coast the Indian state of Kerala is known for its cultivation of tea and spices in the mountains of the Western Ghats and for the unique backwaters waterway network in the hinterland of the coast. The waterway network extends over 1,900 Square kilometers from Kochi to Kollam and includes 29 larger ones Lakes and lagoons, 44 rivers and a total of around 1,500 Kilometers of canals and natural waterways.

Coconut palms, mangroves and rubber plantations form the Backdrop. The backwaters have served as for centuries trade and traffic routes. Typical form of transportation are boats in many designs, from simple canoes to barges to houseboats.

The climate in Kerala is tropical with little temperature fluctuations throughout the year and is heavily influenced by the monsoon. The southwest monsoon usually sets in in Kerala at the beginning of June and brings heavy rainfall until October. The rain is true vital for the country – but it also judges again and again great damage, triggers violent landslides – buildings fall, people are harmed and even die.

The entire project was destroyed during the unprecedented floods in Kerala, followed by huge landslides on August 14, 2018. “The first look at the Power House after the damage was really worrying as all electromechanical devices were under water and under huge piles of dirt and mud,” says the project manager by FLOVEL Mr. Rajesh Ananthaneni. After the first cleaning of dirt FLOVEL was asked by customers to give an immediate assessment of damage and an assessment of the possibility for a quick recovery to power generation. After all, the customer wanted maintain the economic profitability of the project. The FLOVEL team of experts visited the site – or rather the disaster site – and assessed the condition of all equipment in the plant and submitted a detailed report to restore the project.

“The biggest challenge for us was disassembling the entire turbine, to transport it to the factory, to restore the original condition, and the delivery of all M-BOP and E-BOP items complete as well to install the project within 6 months and to put it into operation,” says Gautam Kar, Managing Director of FLOVEL. FLOVEL accepted the challenge and completed the project to the full satisfaction of the customer.

“After the disaster the FLOVEL Team was the first, that arrived at the power station and evaluated the damage and made a thoughtful concept for restoration. We thank FLOVEL for this valuable work and support.”
P Damodaran Nair (MD) & S Syamala Nair (Chairperson), Viyyat Power Pvt. Ltd.

“Based on our commitment we received another order from our customer for delivery, installation and commissioning the Scada Systems for the project.”
Gautam Kar, Managing Director, FLOVEL Energy Private Limited

Life-giving but also dangerous – the rain
The monsoon season in South Asia continues usually until September. The rain is essential for agriculture – but he always does great harm. It even claims many lives.