AlliedSignal Power Systems, a subsidiary of the $14.5 billion AlliedSignal Inc, will set up a manufacturing unit in the country by the first quarter of 2001, Atul Bindal, director, power systems (Asia Pacific) of the company said here on Tuesday. AlliedSignal currently has a marketing alliance with energy systems leader, Thermax Ltd, to market its microturbine-based power systems.
Once the domestic market starts absorbing more of such systems, he said, the local activity will increase and AlliedSignal may consider a joint venture with Thermax. The Pune-based company and AlliedSignal Power have a sales target of 1,000 units of the power systems, branded TurboGenerator power systems, by the year 2000. Available in units of 75 kilowatt (kw), the TurboGenerator is priced at between Rs 18 and Rs 20 lakh. The operating, including maintenance, costs work out to some Rs 3.4-3.50 per unit (kilowatt-hour) of electricity generated, according to Bindal.
Said Abhay Nalawade, managing director of the Rs 600-crore Thermax: "We will be doing a lot of see-marketing this year and next. We will display and demonstrate the technology behind the product. After that, we expect sales to pick up." He feels that the commercial segment _ shops and other commercial establishments _ will be the prime market for the TurboGenerator, rather than the industrial segment thanks to an industrial slowdown in the country.
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Bindal added, "The TurboGenerator offers reliable electricity over long periods (rated maintenance time is about four hours a year). Moreover, the quality of power is good and ideal for users like software developers." He reckons that there are about half a million commercial establishments in the country which could be a market for the TurboGenerator. The reliability and continuity of power delivery from the TurboGenerator is a function of the technology behind the design of the product, Nalawade explained.
The product uses a single shaft for both turbine and generator and reduces the number of moving parts to a single assembly, thereby reducing friction significantly. Also, the TurboGenerator uses AlliedSignal's air-bearing technology; that is, air is used as a friction-reducing bearing rather than conventional oil bearings. In doing so, the high degree of wear-and-tear as seen in diesel generators is eliminated.
According to a Thermax press release, "Advanced aerospace combustion technology also ensures that the TurboGenerator releases low emissions, well below permitted levels. In-built processors also allow for automatic start-up and shut down at specified times and remote operation and control."