By IANS,
Chennai : Power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has announced that Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited’s (NLC) 2×250 MW Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion (CFBC) power plant will be commissioned this fiscal.
“The project will be commissioned before the end of this fiscal. We have sorted out the technical issues,” P.R. Shriram, BHEL’s executive director, told reporters Saturday.
CFBC technology enables burning of coal and lignite having low calorific value.
Originally scheduled for commissioning in 2008, the project got delayed as BHEL’s technology partner Lurgi refused to accede to NLC’s demand to sign the agreements, assuming the responsibility for technology.
BHEL officials said this is the first time the company is setting up a CFBC-based power plant of 250 MW and had to resolve several technical issues on plant layout, boiler erection methodology and other things.
“There are no reference sites for us to learn from,” Shriram said.
Agreeing that BHEL, with a Rs.34,050-crore turnover, has commissioned a 125-MW project based on CFBC technology for NLC at Barsingsar, the company’s General Manager V. Srinivasan, told IANS: “Scaling up is not easy as the issues involved are different.”
With BHEL bagging higher capacity orders, it is investing around Rs.200 crore for erection of huge-sized equipments.
“Bulk of the investment will be towards buying cranes,” Shriram said.
Reviewing the performance of BHEL’s southern region, entrusted with the task of erection and commissioning of power plants in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, he said: “Last fiscal we got orders worth Rs.1,770 crore and the outstanding orders are worth Rs.5,238 crore.”
He said the southern division was involved in erecting power projects worth 21,753 MW.
“Last year we synchronised 2,280 MW with the grid and the target for the current year is 4,936 MW,” Shriram said.
Queried about the renovation and modernisation (R&M) orders bagged by the southern region, he said: “Last year seven percent of the southern region’s revenues came from R&M. However, the utilities go for unorganised players for such jobs owing to several factors.”
He said the division was targeting a revenue of Rs.1,600 crore this fiscal, up from Rs.1,155 crore earned during 2009-10.