The Hindu Business Line : Foreign majors keen on joining hands with NPCIL-BHEL venture

“We are essentially looking for a long-term reputable and reliable technology partner to develop the turbine-generator and its auxiliaries.” – Mr K. Ravi Kumar

Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Dec. 1 Alstom of France, Skoda JS of the Czech Republic, OJSC Turboatom of Ukraine and Siemens of Germany are in the fray for partnering with the proposed BHEL-NPCIL joint venture for the supply of turbine-generator (TG) sets.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd) are currently in the process of forming a joint venture firm to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction of conventional islands for the new generation of nuclear power plants being planned for the future.

“We’ve sought expressions of interest for a tie-up from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for technology transfer for TG sets of 700 MW unit rating and above for new nuclear power plants that are being planned. The nature of tie up will be decided based on the response of OEMs. We have got responses from four global players,” Mr K. Ravi Kumar, BHEL’s Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line.

A joint team of NPCIL and BHEL has been constituted to select the suitable technology partner for the 700-MW range and higher rating turbine generator sets for these new nuclear power projects on the anvil.

“We are essentially looking for a long-term reputable and reliable technology partner to develop the TG and its auxiliaries for the new fleet of nuclear power plants,” Mr Kumar said. The technology partnership has been sought for manufacturing 700 MW, 1,000 MW and 1,600 MW turbines, wherein the selected partner would offer technology for turbine, generator and auxiliaries packages for the new fleet of nuclear power plants on the anvil in the country, he said.

In store for the future

NPCIL’s plans include the development of a fleet of pressurised heavy water reactors of 700-MWe (mega watt electrical) unit capacity. Imported Light Water Reactors (LWR) units using diverse types of reactor technology are also being considered. It is looking to set up ‘Nuclear Parks’ or reactor clusters, each with a capacity to house up to eight LWRs of 1,000 MWe or six reactors of 1,600 MWe at a single location.

The orders would initially be placed for two reactors at each of the locations, following which more reactors could be added at the same site. NPCIL has short-listed four reactor vendors — Areva NP of France, GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse Electric and Russian firm Atomstroyexport — for the LWR-based capacities. BHEL is in talks with the short-listed vendors for a separate tie-up for LWR technology.