GE Steam Power completes modernization project at NTPC’s Ramagundam.

GE Power India (GEPIL) and its affiliates in consortium with NGSL on Wednesday announced milestone results achieved from its steam turbine renovation and modernization project at NTPC power plant in Ramagundam, Telangana.

This is the first of NTPC’s energy-efficient steam turbine projects carried out and the team was able to deliver better than the agreed contractual commitments on output and performance, setting a new best-in-class performance benchmark for the heat rate for these units. Following the success of units 1 and 3, the team is now gearing up for the installation and commissioning of unit 2, GEPIL said in a statement.

The combined additional 20 megawatts (MW) output generated from both units will provide electricity to approximately 44,100 Indian houses. The reduction in CO ₂ emissions is equivalent to 141,200 cars taken off the roads, it added.

The project reduces 2.34 lakhs tonnes of CO ₂ emissions per year for the area and is aligned with the government’s aim of Net Zero 2070. NTPC GE Power Services (NGSL) is a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) company of NTPC and GE Power India.

The steam turbine upgrade project supported NTPC’s Ramagundam Power Plant Units 1 and 3 with an average of around 9.9 per cent improvement in turbine heat rate, turbine life extension by 20 years and average +3.8 per cent points improvement in thermal efficiency of both units.

Supporting the ‘Make in India’ initiative, some parts of the project requirements were fulfilled locally from India, including LP turbine manufacturing, supply by the GE facility in Sanand, Gujarat and sourcing of critical auxiliary components from various vendors in India.

In 2017, GE Steam Power completed a first-of-its-kind Steam Turbine shaft line retrofit for Ukai thermal power station for BHEL 200-MW-class units in India, aimed at increasing power, efficiency, and reliability while also reducing emissions. Not only did the retrofit extend the unit’s life by 25 years, but also restored its output back to its original capacity of 200 MW.

HBL