GE Power wins supercritical boiler equipment mandate from BHEL

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has awarded twin boiler equipment orders to GE Power’s Steam Power business for supercritical thermal power projects at Patratu in Jharkhand and Udangudi in Tamil Nadu, at a combined order value of $72.4 million. GE Power India Ltd has a share of $68.3 million or 94 per cent in this order.

BHEL is the EPC contractor for the two projects. The first is the 3×800-mw (Phase I) Patratu supercritical power plant of Patratu Vidyut Nigam Ltd (PVNL) in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand and the second is the 2×660-mw Udangadi supercritical power station of state utility Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Ltd in the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. PVNL, it may be mentioned, is a joint venture between NTPC and Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Ltd.

GE’s boiler technology has a heritage of more than 100 years, and its installed base of utility boilers makes up about 30 per cent of all boilers installed or under construction worldwide.

As part of the order, GE Power will supply pressure parts equipment for the Patratu project at an order value of $52million and to Udangudi thermal power projects at a value of $20.4 million, for onshore supply. The equipment, including pressure parts, for both these projects will be sourced from GE’s manufacturing facility in Durgapur, West Bengal.

According to Andrew DeLeone, Managing Director, GE Power India Ltd, “This is a key milestone in our partnership with BHEL on supercritical boiler technology for thermal power plants. GE’s advanced supercritical technology power equipment is fully compliant with the most stringent environmental norms. It also helps in achieving about 3-4 per cent higher plant efficiency compared to conventional subcritical design.  For a country like India, where coal is and will remain the energy mainstay for a long time, GE’s state-of-the-art technology can play a major role in making the thermal power plants efficient and environment friendly.GE and BHEL’s collaboration makes both companies stronger.”

Units 1 and 2 of the Udangudi project are scheduled to be commissioned by June 2021, while Patratu plant’s three units are scheduled for March, 2022, September 2022 and March 2023, respectively.

The association: GE Power’s Steam Power business has executed multiple projects for BHEL in the past and is a licensor for once-through-boiler technology for the EPC company. A License and Technical Assistance Agreement between GE and BHEL is in place since October 2005 and is valid till October 2020.

It may be recalled that in May 2017, GE had won the $40-million order from BHEL to supply components and services for the supercritical steam generator island package for 2×660-mw coal-based Maitree super thermal power project located in Bangladesh.

Featured illustrative photograph shows typical boiler parts and it sourced from www.ge.com