BHEL commissions 270 MW Thermal Unit in Punjab

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has achieved yet another landmark by successfully commissioning a 270 MW coal-based power project in Punjab. The unit has been commissioned at the upcoming 540 MW (2x270 MW) Goindwal Sahib coal-fired Thermal Power Project of GVK Power & Infra Ltd. (GVKPIL), located in the historic city of Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran district, near Amritsar in Punjab. The second unit of the same project is also expected to be commissioned shortly. For the same developer, earlier this fiscal, BHEL had commissioned 4 hydro sets of 82.5 MW each at Alaknanda Hydro Power Project in Uttarakhand. Thermal sets of 270 MW rating are an in-house improvisation of 210/250 MW sets supplied earlier by BHEL, which today form the backbone of the Indian power sector and have been performing much above the national average as well as international benchmarks. BHEL has so far contracted 35 sets of 270 MW rating, out of which 10 sets have now been commissioned. BHEL’s scope of work in the Goindwal Sahib project envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of Steam Turbines, Generators, Boilers, associated Auxiliaries and Electricals, besides state-of-the-art Controls & Instrumentation (C&I). The Boiler and its auxiliaries have been manufactured by BHEL at its Tiruchirapalli and Ranipet works in Tamil Nadu, while the Steam Turbine and Generator were manufactured at the company’s Haridwar plant. The Pumps and Heat Exchangers were manufactured at its Hyderabad plant and the Electricals at the Bhopal plant, while the C&I system was supplied by BHEL's Electronics Division, Bangalore. Notably, all the operational sets of 210-270 MW class in the state of Punjab have been supplied, erected and commissioned by BHEL, i.e., 6 units of 210 MW at Ropar, 2 units of 210 MW and 2 units of 250 MW at Bhatinda, besides 270 MW Unit at Goindwal Sahib. In addition to thermal projects, BHEL has a significant presence in the state’s hydro sector also, with around 95% share in the hydro generating capacity of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Presently, BHEL is executing Electro-Mechanical works for hydro-electric power plants at Shahpurkandi (206 MW) and Mukerian (18 MW) in the state of Punjab.