The Hindu Business Line : Are Chinese power equipment suitable for India?

The Chinese got a foothold in India because the Indian power equipment sector did not have enough capacity. But the Chinese have also been a lot cheaper — between 10 and 15 per cent lower than the best price that BHEL could offer.

M. Ramesh

Chennai, Aug. 11 After the collapse of the turbine blades at the Sagardighi thermal power station in West Bengal, the big question in the power sector has resurfaced — are Chinese power equipment suitable for India?

The question is very relevant because the Chinese have been winning orders quoting lower prices. Out of the 78,000 MW targeted for the current Plan period, orders have been placed for 72,000 MW.

Twenty-two per cent of the orders have gone to the Chinese.

The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Mr Jairam Ramesh, told Business Line on Saturday that this was not a trend he would like to see continue into the Twelfth Plan.

It is in this context that the Central Electricity Authority is studying the experience of the few utilities – such as at Sagardighi – that have commissioned their plants using Chinese equipment.

What caused the turbine collapse at the 300-MW unit of Sagardighi is not clear. All that Mr S. Mahapatra, Managing Director, West Bengal Power Development Corporation, would say is that the plant has been put back into operation.

A detailed questionnaire from this correspondent has remained unanswered.

81 days

However, sources say that the turbine blades came off within weeks after the station began commercial generation, which is rare.

For sure, this is not for the first time there has been an equipment failure in a power plant, but this instance stands out because the Chinese contractor, Dongfang, took 81 days to put it back in operations (part of the reason for the delay was the recent earthquake in China).

Sources say that Sagardighi has been beset with a number of problems.

The boiler tubes developed leaks and there is a need to use oil as an additional fuel

(Usually, boilers are fired using oil and after the coal starts burning, the ‘oil support’ is withdrawn. But at Sagardighi, the ‘oil support’ could not be withdrawn). Inference: The design of the boiler is not appropriate for the coal.

BALCO’s experience

After acquiring Bharat Aluminium Company from Government of India, Sterlite Industries put up a 540-MW (4x135 MW) captive power plant using equipment supplied by SEPCO of China. Shortly after commissioning the project, BALCO placed an ‘Expression of Interest’ advertisement in the papers.

It said BALCO was looking for “reputed and experienced agencies” to help in “improvement in boiler availability and efficiency”, “review of design” and “to improve reliability and augmentation of output”.

A questionnaire from Business Line, requesting information on the outcome of the tender ad, sent to Vedanta Resources, which owns BALCO, has remained unanswered for over a month.

Until Sagardighi happened, ‘BALCO’ used to be the oft-cited example by those who look at Chinese power equipment with askance.

Cutting corners

While a part of the low cost could be attributed to economies of scale and, perhaps, lower cost of manufacture, experts in the power sector note that the Chinese tend to cut corners here and there.

They say that, for example, the coal mill (that pulverises the coal for easy burn) may not have an evacuation chute. This is okay in normal functioning, but could lead to a disaster in case fire breaks out.

Sources say that at BALCO, the fans that blow the powdered coal into the boilers were inadequately powered (The BALCO ad called for “installation of PA fans”).

Underpowered fans lead to lower auxilliary power consumption — a positive point while selling the equipment, but as was apparently seen in the case of BALCO, is not good for operations.

Economising on access

Some Chinese designs also economise on access to boilers — narrower stairs, fewer operating floors — saving material costs.

“It is not that the Chinese do not know how to design or make boilers and turbines. But if they custom-designed for Indian coals and manufactured to certain standards, they would be costlier than BHEL,” said one design engineer, who once worked for BHEL.

“The Chinese have many designs and you could pick the one best suited for you,” says Mr R.K. Gupta of Adani Power Ltd, which plans to put up thermal power projects totalling 4,620 MW in phases, all with equipment from SEPCO of China.

Mass-production model

Mr Gupta, a former Chairman of Rajasthan State Electricity Board, said that the Chinese were 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than BHEL, and faster in delivery.

According to him, the Chinese derive these strengths from mass-producing components and stocking them up.

But the experiences such as of Sagardighi and BALCO have raised questions over this model of business. While a technical committee of the Central Electricity Authority is looking into the technical aspects of the Chinese equipment, Mr Jairam Ramesh, wants them to be produced in India.

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