BHEL, GE tie up on gas turbines

With foreign players entering the Indian power equipment market and competition hotting up, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is planning to use technology to manage its rivals.

It will soon start manufacturing gas turbines run by 'source codes', which ensures that the operation of the plant depends on software available with the manufacturer.

The technology was first put in place by equipment manufacturers to ensure that they had bargaining power with electricity plant operators after the plants were set up.

This is the same technology which General Electric (GE) used in the Dabhol power plant and which is why GE's cooperation was crucial to revival of the plant. Bhel and GE will also support NTPC in reviving the Dabhol power plant.

Bhel sources technology for gas turbines from GE and its collaboration agreement with the global power equipment major is being expanded to cover the 256 MW 'advanced class gas turbines', which would be used in large gas based plants like National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC's) Kawas and Gandhar plants.

'The advanced class gas turbines "" large size gas turbines of the type used in the Dabhol power plant "" will be manufactured in India for future projects like the Kawas and Gandhar plants,' Bhel Chairman and Managing Director, AK Puri told Business Standard, adding that these larger machines had not been manufactured in India before now.

The move is part of the company's strategy to increase its product profile and range of products offered to customers.

The company has plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore over the next two years. It is going in for expansion in its major plants at Haridwar, Tiruchirapalli, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

As part of its move to expand its product range to include larger unit size ratings, it is also looking at 800 MW thermal sets, 250 MW hydro sets.