GE and NTPC make significant progress with Indian coal plant modernisations
Published by Harleigh Hobbs,
Editor
World Coal,
Aligning with India’s goal to improve the efficiency and reduce emissions of the country’s installed fleet of coal-fired power plants, GE’s Power Services business, in consortium with NGSL (50:50 joint venture of NTPC and GE) and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL), have announced the milestone results of a steam turbine modernisation project at the Ukai power plant in the state of Gujarat.
The project was completed on 24 May 2017, by using GE’s latest modernisation solutions, including its Advanced Steam Path (ASP) technology – part of the company’s Fleet360* portfolio.
“Power generation efficiency and emissions are widely discussed topics around the world and will play a critical role, especially in existing coal fleets, in how we work to meet future energy demands and challenges on a global scale,” said Pradip Dahake, Managing Director, GSECL. “India is no exception. When it came time for us to modernise some of our generation equipment, it was GE’s cross-fleet service capabilities that gave us the efficiency and emissions improvements we were looking for. GE’s solutions enabled us to better position our operations to meet not only expected increases in demand, but also future, potential, emissions requirements.”
At Ukai, GE modernised the 200 MW Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)-supplied, LMZ steam turbine (unit 4) at the 1350-MW Ukai power plant with its ASP technology. The ASP modernisation features high-pressure and intermediate-pressure full module upgrades and a low-pressure inner block upgrade.
The retrofit will extend the unit’s life by 25 years, and it restored its output back to its original capacity of 200 MW. Final tests at Ukai’s plant displayed more efficient operations that will help the plant reduce its coal consumption by more than 140 000 tpy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 180 000 tpy. The emissions reduction will provide environmental benefits equal to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbed by approximately 732 km2/yr of forest (an area 35% bigger than the Corbett National Park) or equivalent to 162 000 Indian cars being taken off the road. In addition, reducing coal consumption will result in approximately US$7 million savings for the utility every year.
Upgrading Ukai is a milestone project for GE’s Powering Efficiency Center of Excellence (COE), which aims to slash global CO2 emissions from the world’s fleet of existing coal plants through a total plant hardware and software solution approach.
“By combining our cross-fleet capabilities with our Powering Efficiency COE’s commitment to boost efficiency and reduce emissions of coal-fired power plants, we provide our customers with the tools they need to modernize the world’s installed steam turbine fleet to meet future energy challenges,” said Ashok Ganesan, senior executive in charge of steam plant solutions for GE’s Power Services business and the global COE leader.
“With GE’s acquisition of Alstom’s power business back in 2015, we added significant technologies and capabilities to help modernise coal-fired power plants,” Ganesan continued. “We offer power producers added value with our Fleet360 portfolio, and we have comprehensive capabilities to service and upgrade not only our own equipment, but also that of more than 90 other original equipment manufacturers.”
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/22112017/ge-and-ntpc-make-significant-progress-with-indian-coal-plant-modernisations/
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