BHEL commissions 270 MW unit of Punjab power plant

State-run equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Thursday said it has commissioned a 270 MW generation unit at the Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Project of private producer GVK Power & Infra 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, located in the historic city of Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran district, near Amritsar in Punjab," BHEL said in a statement here.

The second unit of the same project is also expected to be commissioned soon, it said.

BHEL has earlier commissioned four hydro sets of 82.5 MW each at the Alaknanda Hydro Power Project in Uttarakhand by the same developer.

Thermal sets of 270 MW rating are in-house improvisations of the 210/250 MW sets supplied by the company earlier, which currently form the backbone of the Indian power sector and have been performing much above the national average as well as international benchmarks, BHEL said.

All the operational sets of 210-270 MW class in Punjab have been supplied, erected and commissioned by BHEL, i.e., six 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 coal-based thermal projects, BHEL also has a significant presence in the state's hydro sector, with around 95 percent share in the hydroelectric generating capacity of the Punjab State Power Corp.

BHEL is currently executing electro-mechanical works for hydel power plants at Shahpurkandi (206 MW) and Mukerian (18 MW) in Punjab, the company said.