Rs 100 cr in Budget for development of 800 MW advanced boiler

The development of 800 MW advanced ultra super critical thermal power plant project got Rs 100 crore for next year from the Department of Heavy Industry with a target to finalise the turbine design, as per 2018-19 budget papers.

According the Union Budget, the project target for next fiscal includes finalisatio of turbine design, completion of detailed design for boiler and valves and commissioning of the turbine rotor test rig facility.

In 2016, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had approved the proposal of research and development (R&D) project for development of advanced ultra super critical technology for thermal power plant.

The estimated project cost was Rs 1,554 crore.

A consortium of three government entities, namely Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research (IGCAR) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will jointly develop the advanced ultra super critical technology.

The project is formulated with a time cycle of two and a half years, with an estimated cost of Rs 1,554 crore, with a contribution of Rs 270 crore from BHEL, Rs 50 crore from NTPC, Rs 234 crore from IGCAR, Rs 100 crore from Department of Science and Technology (DST). Balance amount of Rs 900 crore will be contributed by Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) as grant, the government had said earlier.

The project will enable Indian industries to design, manufacture and commission higher efficiency coal fired power plants with indigenously developed technology and manufacturing processes.

As per plans, the IGCAR will design and develop the 800 MW advanced ultra super-critical boiler that can operate at a pressure of 350 bar (a measure of steam pressure) and at a temperature of 700 degrees centigrade.

IGCAR has the expertise in equipment design, development of materials that can operate at very high temperature. It will also draw out the equipment manufacturing codes and standards.

Power equipment major BHEL will manufacture the boiler and other equipments while power generator NTPC will be the end user to produce power.

This will be the first time large power plant equipment will be manufactured with advanced technologies, but without any Technological Collaboration/ Licensing Agreement with foreign companies, the government had said earlier.

--IANS

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