BHEL commissions 800 MW supercritical thermal power plant

New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a Maharatna PSU under the Department of Heavy Industries, said that it has successfully commissioned a supercritical thermal power plant of 800 MW at Wanakbori thermal power project's unit 8 in Gujarat.

Wanakbori thermal power project is located in Kheda district of Gujarat. It is owned by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL), a state-owned power generation company. BHEL had earlier set-up seven units of 210 MW at the same plant, the oldest unit of which has been in operation for more than 35 years. The new 800 MW unit is the highest rating set of GSECL.

The news comes a month after BHEL also commissioned a 1,320 MW unit of the supercritical thermal power plant in Odisha in September.

What are supercritical thermal power plants?

The Supercritical power plants operate at pressures higher than the critical pressure. The operating pressures are in the range of 230 to 265 bar, which is used in the production of power. Therefore, liquid water immediately becomes steam. Water passes below the critical point as it does work in a high-pressure turbine and enters the generator's condenser, resulting in slightly less fuel use.

BHEL's role in the project

BHEL has executed the order for setting up the 800 MW coal-based power plant on Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) basis and its scope of work in the project envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of the steam turbine-generator, boiler, associated auxiliaries and electricals, state-of-the-art Controls and Instrumentation (C&I) and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs), besides other equipment of the EPC package.

The key equipment for the project has been manufactured at BHEL's Haridwar, Trichy, Hyderabad, Ranipet, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Thirumayam and Jhansi plants, while the construction of the plant has been undertaken by the company's Power Sector – Western Region, Nagpur.