BHEL Manufactures and Tests India's First Home-Produced Large Power Turbine

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--India's first locally manufactured large-capacity, 600-megawatt (MW) turbine-generator has been successfully tested by state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BSE:500103) (BHEL) (New Delhi) and will be supplied and installed at the North Chennai Thermal Power project.

BHEL was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the $15.3 million project. The developer, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), signed a $550 million funding agreement with India's Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (BSE:RECLTD) for the expansion project.

BHEL is now in a position to supply subcritical thermal power units rated at 600 MW. With the advent of the new series, generators can also supply thermal power stations with supercritical turbine units rated between 660 and 700 MW. A number of generator sets with rated capacities of 600 MW, 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW are currently at various stages of manufacture at BHEL's plant in Haridwar, Uttarkhand.

The facility for the assembly and testing of the new series of generator sets has been designed and engineered at the same plant. The new facility has the capability to manufacture and test turbo generators up to a rating of 1,000 MW. The test pits can handle the assembly of two generators at the same time.

The test facility has special 12-MW drive motors powered from a variable frequency drive system. In order to validate generator performance parameters, open-circuit and short-circuit tests can be conducted during testing. There are also state-of-the-art data acquisition systems for logging test data. Integrated control and monitoring are also key features in the facility. Large video screens allow engineers to monitor real-time data during testing. The multi-level test bed includes a complete range of equipment, including lube oil, seal oil, primary water, hydrogen gas, auxiliary cooling water supply systems and associated controls.

In addition to the line of new series generators, BHEL has established cutting edge technology for the manufacture of thermal sets of up to 1,000 MW. In response to customer demand, the company has introduced a line of new thermal generator sets of 150 MW, 270 MW, 525 MW and 600 MW in addition to established 250-MW and 500-MW sets.

There has been pressure on BHEL to deliver turbines on time, on agreed schedules for new power projects, and the company has expanded manufacturing capacity to 15,000 MW per year. This will increase to 20,000 MW per year by March 2012.

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