Snapshot

Country's leading power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals has set-up a new state-of-the-art Electrical Machines Shop at its Heavy Electrical Plant at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

The new facility has been set up in view of the immense market potential for electric motors.

The unit was dedicated to the nation yesterday by Praful Patel, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the presence of B P Rao, CMD, BHEL.

Directors on the Board of BHEL and other senior officials of the company were also present on the occasion.

Patel said that the time is “not too far” when BHEL will be feted with the Maharatna status due to “commitment and dedication of its employees”.

“In the coming years, I want to see BHEL which is larger in magnitude, innovative, renowned in all business sectors, known for its engineering excellence and well established as a world class engineering enterprise,” he said.

S Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, visited IndianOil’s Corporate Office and addressed its senior executives in the presence of Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan; IndianOil Chairman RS Butola and senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Lauding the efforts made by IndianOil in the petroleum industry he said, “IndianOil represents the largest pool of talent in this sector in our country...You are a great company because you represent the entire value chain (of the petroleum business)”.

Reddy urged all IOCians to look at the larger challenges posed by the energy sector in light of the global scenario. "People who are from this (hydrocarbon) sector have the experience and wisdom and are clearly best positioned to contribute significantly to it" he said. He also responded to several queries posed by the IOCians.

Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project has achieved yet another milestone by adding another 100 MW, close on the heels of commissioning its first unit (100 MW) and now the Tehri Hydropower Development Corporation (THDC) was contributing 200 MW capacity to northern grid.

DGM (CC) J P Dhaundial said that the second unit was synchronised on March 30 and is now providing additional 200 MW to the N Grid which would prove to be a boon during the excruciating heat of the summers in the Northern Region.

The other two units will also be completed within the 11th plan. From its very first year of commercial operations, THDCIL has been a ‘Mini Ratna-Category-I’ status and Schedule ‘A’ CPSE.

Its commissioning also bears significance as the project power house had got submerged on September 21 last year due to floods and again suffered blockage of Diversion Tunnel due to landslide on December 17, 2010.

However, THDCIL succeeded in overcoming the crisis and was able to commission its Ist unit on March 27, as all necessary works were taken up on war-footing round the clock.

The Mechanical Spinning of Unit-I had got accomplished on January 31. After this, subsequent to testing and commissioning works, Machine of Unit-I was synchronised with the Grid, while now the second unit has been synchronised on March 30, the official sources said.

Koteshwar Hydro-Electric Project (400 MW) is located 22 KM downstream of Tehri Dam on river Bhagirathi. Koteshwar Project is one of the constituents of Tehri. Other constituents of Tehri Power Complex (2400 MW) are Tehri Dam (1000 MW) and PSP (1000 MW).

Tehri is already in operation and Tehri PSP is under implementation. It will facilitate the functioning of Tehri Power Complex as a major peaking station in Northern Grid.

It is run-off the river scheme and will generate 1234 MU of energy annually. The reservoir created by Koteshwar Dam having live storage capacity of 35.0 MCM will also function as lower (balancing) reservoir of Tehri PSP. This project will also regulate water releases from Tehri Reservoir for irrigation purposes.

Power Grid Corporation of India, with the support of Ministry of Power, organised GRIDTECH 2011, an International exhibition and conference on new technologies in transmission & distribution and synergic areas like load despatch, telecommunications, application software etc.

GRIDTECH 2011 was inaugurated by Union Minister of Power Sushilkumar Shinde in the presence of Union Minister of State for Power KC Venugopal, BK Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission, P Uma Shankar, Secretary (Power), SK Chaturvedi, CMD, POWERGRID and other dignitaries.

GRIDTECH 2011 provided a unique opportunity for the power utilities, manufacturers, research institutions, policy makers, academicians, consultants etc. to gain exposure to state-of-the-art products and technologies like 1200kV, 800kV HVDC, FACTS, GIS, Superconductors, Smart Grid, substation automation, compact lines, power system protection system, modern distribution management, renewable energy sources, integrated communication system etc.

About 67 technical papers were presented by national and international experts during the conference.