Bhel wins Rs 369 cr NTPC contract for Barh plant

Amid a rigorous bidding process, top public sector company Bhel has bagged a Rs369 crores contract for <g data-gr-id="31">revival</g> of NTPC’s power plant in Barh in Patna, officials said on Monday. The contract has been given for supply and installation of the Power Cycle Piping (PCP) package for the Barh Thermal Power Project - Stage-I (3x660 MW) of NTPC in Bihar.

“In the face of stiff competition under International Competitive Bidding (ICB), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (Bhel) has bagged a prestigious contract for the supply and installation of the PCP package,” he said.  

“The contract awarded to <g data-gr-id="38">Bhel</g> is valued at Rs369 <g data-gr-id="37">Crore</g>. <g data-gr-id="39">Bhel</g> has been awarded this package by NTPC for the revival of the Barh plant and to make it operational, after NTPC terminated the contract of the foreign contractor, who was awarded the contract for the supercritical boiler including Power Cycle Piping in 2005, but which has not yet been completed,” another official said.

Bhel will design, engineer, manufacture, supply, erect and commission the complete Power Cycle Piping Package of the project. “The design, manufacture and supply of Power Cycle Piping equipment will be taken care of by the Piping Centre and Trichy-Valves Division of <g data-gr-id="34">Bhel</g>, while the company’s Power Sector Eastern Region will be responsible for the erection and commissioning of the Power Cycle Piping,” another official of the company said.

“This is not the first time that Bhel has been entrusted the responsibility of revival of a project, initially ordered on a foreign company. Earlier, <g data-gr-id="43">Bhel</g> had received an order from Ratnagiri Gas & Power Private Limited (RGPPL) for restarting the 1,967 MW Gas Turbine based Combined Cycle Project at Ratnagiri,” he said. Notably, the two units of the Stage-II (2x660 MW) of Barh STPP, for which supply and installation of supercritical boilers and turbines <g data-gr-id="40">was</g> awarded on <g data-gr-id="44">Bhel</g> in 2008, have already been commissioned.

“The first 660 MW Unit at Barh STPP Stage-II, was dedicated to the nation by Piyush Goyal, Minister of State of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy on November 15, 2014,” an official said. The commissioning of these two units of 660 MW each is an important development for the country seeking to achieve <g data-gr-id="48">self reliance</g> in the field of contemporary, state-of-the-art supercritical technology and demonstrates <g data-gr-id="47">Bhel’s</g> capability in the area of supercritical technology, which is expected to lower coal consumption and eco-friendly and efficient power generation. “The company has the capability to execute Piping Systems on turnkey basis for supercritical units as a total systems provider meeting international codes and standards. <g data-gr-id="49">Supplies</g> of Piping Systems to domestic and overseas customers have been made as part of boiler/turbine supplies as well as standalone packages,” a senior technical official associated of the company said.  

Throwing light on the technological achievements of the company, he said that the company “strives to keep abreast with state-of-the-art technology through continuous in-house developments.” The most important aspect of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) winning this contract was that it was won amid a stiff international completion or under the international competitive bidding process, which adds another fear to the cap of the public sector unit.  The <g data-gr-id="52">company in order to match global standards</g> has adopted best of international practices and has been using materials and products. “Materials like P-91 and P-92 have been introduced contributing to <g data-gr-id="68">economy</g> in weight and increased efficiency for which design, manufacture and welding intricacies at shop and site have been established,” he said.