BHEL commissions 600-MW thermal power plant in Odisha

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) today announced the successful commissioning of a 600 MW thermal unit in Odisha.

The unit was commissioned at Jindal India Thermal Power Limited (JITPL)'s upcoming 2x600 MW thermal power project located at Derang in Angul District of Odisha, BHEL said in release.

BHEL also successfully loaded the machine up to 605 MW, higher than the designed capacity (full load), with all the operating parameters within the acceptable limits.

The project, valued at Rs2600 crore, involves the supply of state-of-the-art equipment suited to Indian coal and Indian conditions and includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of steam turbines, generators and boilers, along with associated auxiliaries and electricals, besides latest controls & instrumentation (C&I) and electrostatic precipitators (ESPs).

BHEL would be setting up two power generation units of 600 MW each. Work on the second unit is in full swing and the unit is also expected to be commissioned during the current year.

The 4-cylinder 600 MW rating TG set are engineered in-house by BHEL. The company has so far contracted 21 sets of 600 MW sets, out of which eight have already been commissioned. These sets have a very high level of indigenisation.

A large number of similar sets ensure easy availability of spares and operator's familiarity. The 500 MW sets of this rating class, supplied earlier by BHEL, today form the backbone of the Indian power sector and have been performing much above the national average as well as the international benchmarks, BHEL said.

BHEL said it has benefited from the entry of private players in the power sector in a big way following the Electricity Act 2003. BHEL has received orders from number of private developers like Tata Power, Jindal Power Limited, Jaypee group, Hinduja National Power Corporation Ltd, Dainik Bhaskar Group, Bajaj Hindustan Ltd, Monnet Power Company Ltd, Avantha Group etc, besides JITPL.

At present, 85 utility sets aggregating to more than 21,000 MW of private sector developers are in various stages of execution by BHEL.

BHEL supplied thermal sets fully meet the performance standards notified by CEA. As per a recent CEA study on the performance of sub-critical sets in the country, BHEL supplied sets have demonstrated a better operating Heat rate resulting in less coal consumption per unit of power produced, the company said.