Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) in a statement said that it has emerged as the lowest bidder for a fleet-mode tender floated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
BHEL said that its bid of Rs.10,800 crore was the lowest in an open competitive bidding process. NPCIL is seeking suppliers for six-turbine island packages of 700-mw rating.
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BHEL added that with this mandate (which is expected to be officially handed over soon), it has retained its market leadership position of being the sole Indian supplier of nuclear steam turbines.
(NPCIL will be deploying these six 700-mw nuclear steam turbines across its various upcoming projects.)
700-mw steam turbine generators
BHEL, in the statement, said that it has already supplied two 700-mw steam turbine generator sets each for Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant (Unit 3 & 4) in Gujarat and the Rawatbhata Atomic Power Plant (Unit 7 & 8) in Rajasthan.
PHWR
The statement observed that PHWRs (pressurized heavy water reactors) are the mainstay of the Indian nuclear power program with 12 out of 18 operating PHWRs of NPCIL equipped with BHEL-supplied steam turbine generator sets. The remaining six have been sourced from suppliers in Canada and Ukraine. Ten out of the 12 PHWRs are of 220-mw rating while the remaining two are of the 540-mw type.
These PHWRs sets have continuously been exhibiting excellent performance with Kaiga Unit-1 creating a world record of uninterrupted operation for 962 days.
Self-reliance
“The company aims to continue making a major contribution towards self-reliance in nuclear equipment production and initiatives taken will be a driving force towards the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan of Government of India,” the BHEL statement noted.
Featured photograph shows NPCIL’s Kakrapar atomic power plant in Gujarat.
