Summer Internship Report on EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT BY ASSET OPTIMIZATION PROGRAM AND STRENGTHENING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PRACTICES OF COAL BASED THERMAL POWER PLANT Under the Guidance of Dr. Manisha Rani Senior Fellow, NPTI, Faridabad & Mr. Bimalendu Mohapatra AGM, Asset Optimization Sterlite Energy Limited (IPP), Jharsugda At STERLITE ENERGY LIMITED, Jharsugda Submitted by : Amit Pramanik MBA (Power Management) Roll No. : 1031220 Sector-33, Faridabad, Haryana-121003 (Under the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India) Affiliated to Maharshi Dayananda University, Rohatak, Haryana AUGUST 2013
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Summer Internship Report
on
EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT BY ASSET OPTIMIZATION
PROGRAM AND STRENGTHENING OPERATION AND
MAINTENANCE PRACTICES OF COAL BASED THERMAL
POWER PLANT
Under the Guidance of
Dr. Manisha Rani
Senior Fellow, NPTI, Faridabad
&
Mr. Bimalendu Mohapatra
AGM, Asset Optimization
Sterlite Energy Limited (IPP), Jharsugda
At
STERLITE ENERGY LIMITED, Jharsugda
Submitted by : Amit Pramanik
MBA (Power Management)
Roll No. : 1031220
Sector-33, Faridabad, Haryana-121003 (Under the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India)
Affiliated to
Maharshi Dayananda University, Rohatak, Haryana
AUGUST 2013
Page | ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend warm thanks to all the people who had been associated with me
in some way or the other and helped me avail this opportunity for my summer Internship on
the topic “Efficiency Improvement by Asset Optimization Program and Strengthening
Operation and Maintenance Practices of Coal Based Thermal Power Plant”.
I acknowledge with gratitude and humanity my indebtness to my Summer Internship
Project guide Mr. Bimalendu Mohapatra, AGM (IPP)- Asset Optimization, Mr. Pinaki
Dalal, Associate Manager(IPP) and the Technical Team for providing me excellent guidance,
material and motivation under whom I completed my summer internship at Sterlite Energy
Limited.
I would like to thank Mrs. Manju Mam, Deputy Director, NPTI Faridabad for her
support and guidance throughout the project duration.
I would like to thank Mr. S.K. Choudhary, Principal Director (CAMPS) and my
project guide Dr. Manisha Rani, Senior Fellow, NPTI Faridabad who always assisted me in
every possible manner.
Amit Pramanik
Summer Intern
NPTI, Faridabad
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DECLARATION
I, Amit Pramanik, Roll No. 99, student of 3rd
semester MBA (Power Management)
of the National Power Training Institute, Faridabad, hereby declare that the Summer
Internship Report entitled “Efficiency Improvement by Asset Optimization Program and
Strengthening Operation and Maintenance Practices of Coal Based Thermal Power Plant”
is an original work and the same has not been submitted to any other institute for the award of
any other degree.
A seminar presentation of the training report was made on 2nd
September, 2013 and
the suggestions approved by the faculty were duly incorporated.
Presentation In-charge
(Faculty)
Signature of the Candidate
(AMIT PRAMANIK)
Counter Signed
Director/ Principal of the Institute
Page | iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMERY
This report is result of efforts to understand key performance indices in Thermal
Power Plant & an attempt to improve them as a student of NPTI during a summer internship
project. Following paragraphs outline summary of background, analysis & recommendations
of the study.
Considering the demand for power in India, commissioning new plants at
approximately Rs. four billion per MW could prove a costly proposition, at this juncture as
the simpler solution of making considerable amount of power available through energy
efficiency improvement, could be an attractive option. In fact, one percent efficiency
improvement would render a reduction of about 3% coal consumption and a consequent
emission reduction as well. India has an installed capacity of 211 766MW (as on January 31,
2013) of which the Thermal share is 141714MW (66%). It is worth considering that even a
1% reduction in auxiliary power consumption from the existing levels would yield 9900MU
of energy annually, worth Rs. 29700 Crs (@ Rs.3 / KWh).
Coal-based thermal power stations are the leaders in electricity generation in India.
This study basically deals with analyzing two of many vital parameters of thermal power
plant – Station heat rate & auxiliary power consumption. These parameters vary widely
across plants and regions, but remain within a wide range, indicating a substantial scope for
increasing thermal power generation in the country, with improved application of existing
technology and without employment of additional resources. The western region is
technically more efficient than other regions and young plants are more efficient than their
old counterparts. We hope that the findings will prove useful to management in devising
appropriate strategies to improve station heat rate and auxiliary power consumption and
altogether generation as a whole.
In this context it becomes imperative to assess the performance and efficiency of coal
based thermal power plant in India. The power plant is considered inefficient if the plants
existing resources or inputs are utilize sub optimally as a consequence of which plants power
generation is less than its potential or maximum possible generation.
Page | v
This report analyze as the key performance index (KPI) of Independent Power Plant
(IPP) of Sterlite Energy Limited (SEL) specially concentrating on station heat rate (SHR).
The report also takes stock of in house asset optimization program of SEL named
„AROHAN‟. This asset optimization program aims to achieve not only synergies of energy
efficiency but overall optimization of organizations tangible as well as intangible assets.
Optimizing assets of the organization not only supports exponential business growth but also
provides congenial work atmosphere. It also helps and designing frame work for various
regulatory and safety compliance and engaging employs for proactive initiative.
It is observed that improving performance of power plants through interventions
aimed at strengthening O&M practices, coupled with required rehabilitation and life
extension interventions is perhaps the quickest and least cost alternative for augmenting
availability of power in the Indian context. It is estimated that the availability of power in the
country can be enhanced by more than 17 percent (as against peak energy deficit of 9
percent) if all the available generation units can be utilized at an average PLF similar to
NTPC units through rehabilitation combined with better O&M practices. Although such high
levels of performance may be difficult to achieve throughout the country. The potential
benefits of focusing on improved power plant performance are clearly immense. Improved
O&M practices are also necessary to sustain the performance of rehabilitated power plants as
well as new power plants. Government of India initiatives in this regard (Perform Archive
and Trade (PAT) Program) also amply demonstrates the potential operational as well as
This report aims to give an overview of status of efficiency improvement
initiatives undertaken in Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.
The Indian economy has experienced unprecedented economic growth over
the last decade. Today, India is the fourth largest economy in the world, driven by a
real GDP growth of above 6% in the last 5 years (7.5% over the last 10 years). In
2011 itself, the real GDP growth of India was 5th highest in the world, next only to
Qatar, Paraguay, Singapore and Taiwan.
Sustained growth in economy comes with growth from all sectors, among
which growth in infrastructure sector is a key requirement for growth in sectors with
in manufacturing and services. Within infrastructure, growth in power sector is one of
the most important requirements for sustained growth of a developing economy like
India.
Government utility companies, with only three major private sector generation
and distribution companies, traditionally ran the Indian electric power sector until the
mid1990s. Since then the Indian government has pursued a policy of deregulation by
opening it to private sector investment and separating generation from transmission
and distribution of electricity. While there were many goals, a primary objective of
this policy was to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to consumers at affordable
prices.
Deregulation was intended to reduce or eliminate the electricity deficit,
improve the financial performance of the State Electricity Boards (SEBs), and reduce
the government‟s outlay for construction of new electricity supply and subsidies.
After almost two decades of reforms, however, the supply and demand gap of
electricity widened over the years. In 1990-91, the electrical energy deficit was
around 7.7%, and by 2008-09 it grew to 11.1%. The peak power deficit, however,
reportedly declined from around 18% in 1990-91 to 11.9% by 2008-09 (CEA, 2009).
Page | 2
India faces formidable challenges in meeting its energy needs and providing
adequate energy of desired quality in various forms to users in a sustainable manner
and at reasonable costs. India needs to sustain 8% to 10% economic growth to
eradicate poverty and meet its economic & human development goals. Such economic
growth would call for increased demand for energy and ensuring access to clean,
convenient and reliable energy for all to address human development. To deliver a
sustained growth of 8% through 2031, India would, in the very least, need to grow its
primary energy supply by 3 to 4times and electricity supply by 5 to 7 times of today‟s
consumption.
By 2031-32 power generation capacity would have to increase to 778095MW
and annual coal requirement would be 2040mt, if we don‟t take any measures to
reduce requirement. Along with quantity the quality of energy supply has to also
improve. The energy challenge is of fundamental importance to India‟s economic
growth imperatives.
Energy Efficiency could provide the quickest, cheapest and most direct way to
turn these challenges into real opportunities. Rapid growth of any economy requires
huge quantum of energy resources.
India has an installed capacity of 211 766MW (as on January 31, 2013) of
which the Thermal share is 1,41,714MW (66%). It is worth considering that even a
1% reduction in auxiliary power consumption from the existing levels would yield
9900MU of energy annually, worth Rs. 29700 Crs (@ Rs.3 / KWh).
Improving energy efficiency can have many benefits; some of them are as
follows:
A. Meeting global emission reduction targets
B. Meeting global energy saving commitments
C. Ensuring sustainable economic growth
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Unprecedented fuel hike and importance of equipment‟s life assessment and
subsequent extension have become extremely important concerns for thermal power
stations. Present work is aimed at energy conservation in thermal power plants and
Page | 3
also focusing on increasing the life of boiler components by conducting heat transfer
analysis. Energy conservation in thermal power plant can be done by:
Decreasing energy input i.e. coal input by better combustion efficiency.
Efficient heat utilization
For this purpose, heat transfer analysis of a thermal power station was quite
necessary and this is done by taking a reference unit and doing studies along with the
energy audit team. Most of the Indian thermal power stations are producing power at
very high heat rate at one hand and falling in preventing the life deteriorating
conditions on the other hand. Exhaustive studies of different parameters of a thermal
power plant will be done for efficiency improvement resulting in energy conservation.
This may result in costly fuel saving and better capacity utilisation of a reference unit.
1.3 OBJECTIVE
Efficiency Improvement of a coal based thermal power plant using Asset
Optimization and Strengthening Operation and Maintenance Practices in Coal Fired
Thermal Power Generating Station in India.
1.4 SCOPE
Efficiency Improvement of a coal based thermal power plant can be achieved
through,
Station Heat Rate Reduction
Auxiliary Power Consumption Reduction
Implementing Asset Management frame work
Basic Equipment Care
Process Management (PM) and Condition Based Monitoring (CBM)
Contractor Performance
Spare Parts Management
Budget Cost Control
Standard of Performance (SOP) Compliance
Maintenance Facility
Safety & Regulation
Goal Deployment
Page | 4
Continuous Improvement
Reward and Recognition
Organization Performance Management
Skill Development
Operation and Maintenance Practices
1.5 COMPANY PROFILE
Vedanta Aluminium Ltd is an associate company of the London Stock
Exchange listed, FTSE 100 diversified resources group Vedanta Resources Plc.
Originally incorporated in 2001, VAL is a leading producer of metallurgical grade
alumina and other aluminium products, which cater to a wide spectrum of industries.
VAL has carved out a niche for itself in the
aluminium industry with its superior product quality
based on state-of-the-art technology. The firm
operates a 1 mtpa greenfield alumina refinery and an associated 75 MW captive
power plant at Lanjigarh in the state of Orissa. Plans are afoot to increase the capacity
of the Lanjigarh refinery significantly to 5 mtpa. This is in line with VAL‟s strategy to
promote Lanjigarh as a self sustained manufacturing unit in terms of cost advantage
and resource availability.
VAL has invested in a 0.5 mtpa aluminum smelter and 1215 MW captive
power plant supported by highly modern infrastructure at Jharsuguda, Orissa. In
addition to this, construction of 1.1 mtpa aluminium smelter expansion project at
Jharsuguda is under process. The company intends to expand the fully integrated
aluminium smelting capacity to around 2.6 mtpa in near future.
Jharsuguda is also the site of the 2400 MW Independent Power Plant being set
up by group company Sterlite Energy Ltd to meet the growing demand for power
from both urban and rural consumers.
The idea of sustainable development is deeply ensconced in VAL‟s business
ethos. VAL is committed to the socio-economic transformation of local communities
residing around the plant sites and undertakes several initiatives to promote
sustainable development. The firm has focused on developing modern health
Page | 5
amenities, educational facilities for children and skill development programmes for
adults. Several other programmes have been undertaken to enhance health and
sanitation, promote livelihood generation and improve infrastructure in the villages
surrounding Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh. The firm believes that its development
initiatives will encourage a dedicated team of self motivated individuals to participate
and drive the company‟s growth in the future.
Figure 1: Organization Structure
1.5.1 ABOUT STERLITE ENERGY LIMITED (SEL)
Sterlite Energy Limited
(SEL) is a part of Vedanta
Resources plc , a London listed
FTSE 100 diversified metals and
mining major with Aluminium, Copper, Zinc and Iron ore operations in
India, Australia and Zambia, and a subsidiary of Vedanta group flagship
company, Sterlite Industries (India) Limited. SEL was established to
develop, construct and operate power plants and seeks to become one of
India‟s leading commercial power generation companies.
SEL is well positioned to capitalize on India‟s economic growth,
power deficit and large coal reserves to develop a commercial power
generation business. It shall benefit from Vedanta group‟s experienced and
focused management with strong project execution skills, experience in
Page | 6
building and operating captive power plants, substantial experience in
mining activities and the capacity to finance world-class projects.
1.5.2 JHARSUGDA POWER PROJECT
Sterlite Energy Ltd has taken a major initiative towards the
advancement of the power infrastructure in Orissa through its 4 x 600 MW
coal-based independent power plant (IPP) in Jharsuguda district. The IPP
project envisages a total capital outlay of Rs. 8,200 crores. The two units
have commenced commercial operation since November 2010 and April
2011 respectively. The project is expected to be fully commissioned in the
third quarter of Fiscal 2012.
The power plant entails a number of pioneering achievements in
the Indian power sector. Each of its four units has a capacity of 600 MW,
which makes the units the largest commissioned in India till date. One of
the largest coal handling plants to handle 44,000 MT of coal per day,
which is equivalent to 14 rakes of coal a day and a power generation
capacity to produce 57million units/day. In addition to this, a Hybrid ESP
with fabric filter is being deployed for the first time in an Indian power
plant. The plant also has a dual LP-flow steam turbine and four 160 meters
high natural draft cooling towers. Other important features of the plant
include two 275 meters high multi-flue stacks and a high concentration
slurry disposal (HCSD) system for dry ash and highly concentrated slurry.
The company has made extensive arrangements to source raw
materials for the power plant. The Hirakud Reservoir is being used as a
water source and coal- the chief raw material, is being derived from the IB
Valley coalfield. Power would be supplied to consumers through the high-
voltage power lines.
As a prime advocate of sustainable development, Sterlite Energy
Ltd. puts a premium on environmentally friendly construction technology.
The plant employs hybrid ESP and fabric filter which maintains stack
emission < 50 mg/m3 and HCSD system for ash disposal, which results in
very low consumption of water compared to wet slurry system. The
Page | 7
Jharsuguda IPP would therefore be a zero effluent discharge plant with
stack emission
For actualization of Vision for Global Benchmark Performance, the
Company has tied up for Operation & Maintenance of the station with
Evonik Energy Services (India) Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Evonik Energy Services GmbH, Germany having 70 years of experience
in O&M of Coal fired thermal Power Plants of big size.
Independent Power Plant Jharsugda, Odissa
Proposed Installed Capacity 2,4000 MW (600 X 4 MW)
Technology Thermal Sub-Critical
EPC Contractor SEPCO III, Chaina
O&M Contractor Evonik Energy Services (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Estimated Coal Requirement Approximately 12.49 MTPA
Coal Supply Status
112.22 million tons coal block allocated(2);
provisional coal linkage of 2.57 mtpa received,
which will be sufficient for the generation of a
substantial portion of the power in the first 600
MW unit, and coal linkage with respect to 1,800
MW of capacity applied for.
Off-take Status
Long-term PPA signed with GRIDCO
providing right to purchase approximately up to
718 MW, intend to supply power to Vedanta
Aluminium for its proposed 1.25 mtpa
aluminium smelter expansion project at adjacent
site and One unit power(600MW) being sold on
merchandise basis through national grid.
Commissioning of the Units First - August 2010
Second - January 2011
Estimated Project Cost 82,000 Million
Figure 2: Independent Power Plant Project
Page | 8
2. REVIEW OF INDIAN POWER GENERATION
SECTOR
2.1 INDIAN ECONOMY & POWER REQUIREMENT
India experienced unprecedented economic growth of 8%1 for the last several
years. Even after factoring recent developments in global economy & local scenario,
India is likely to maintain 9%2 economic growth over 12
th FYP. These growth rates
are fairly higher than the economic growths observed in developed world and they are
likely to increase our energy requirement at even higher rate.
India is currently facing energy shortage of 8.5% and peak shortage of 10.3%3.
As per the 12th FYP, India‟s energy demand will grow 6% per annum and we would
require installed power generation capacity of about 100 Gigawatts (GW). The power
requirement, besides economic growth, is also driven by Government‟s aim to
provide “power for all”.
Given the above scenario, it is becoming increasingly important for India to
operate existing generation assets at peak of their capacity besides new capacity
additions. A number of plants today are running at sub-optimal plant load factor
(PLF) levels due to various issues like fuel shortages, unplanned shut-down due to
poor maintenance and time taken to rectify the problems. While, we have observed
improvements in Plant Load Factor (PLF) of generating plants (from 57.1% in year
1992-93 to 75.1% in year 2010-114), still there is significant improvement possible.
2.2 POWER GENERATION IN INDIA
The capacity addition during the 11th five year plan FYP has been the highest
till date in any FYP. As on 31st March 2012 the total generation stood at 199877.03
MW5 as per the CEA report. The details of this generation capacity based on type of
generation capacity and ownership of generation capacity is outlined in the following
diagram.
1 Report of the working group on power for 12th plan 2 Report of the working group on power for 12th plan 3 National Electricity Plan (volume 1) Generation Report, January 2012 4 CEA: Operation performance of generating stations in the country during the year 2010-11. 5 CEA: Growth of installed capacity since 6th FYP.
Figure 3: The Growth of power generation in various FYP
Further analysis of Indian power generation sector over a period of time
reveals following fundamental trends:
2.3.1 Trend in Type Installed Capacity Dominance of Thermal
Thermal power plants comprised nearly 66.9 % of its generation
capacity as on 31st January 2013
6. In the 11
th FYP also the thermal capacity
addition (coal + gas + diesel) was the highest of around 141713.68 MW. This
indicates that thermal power generation has been a dominant source of
electricity.
In the near future, about 100 GW of generation capacity is expected to
be added in 12th
FYP and out of this 63781MW is thermal generation capacity.
This dominance of the thermal power plants will continue in the electrical
power sector.
6 CEA: Annual Report 2011-12, Growth of installed capacity since 6th FYP.
Page | 10
Figure 4: Power Generation Mix
2.3.2 Public Vs Private Sector Increasing Role of Private Sector
Indian economy in general and power sector in particular has seen
liberalization and implementation of enabling framework to allow private
sector participation. The key developments which encouraged private sector
participation in power generation are a) de-licensing of power generation in
Electricity Act 2003, b) competitive bidding framework for power
procurement c) Open access & framework for power trading/power exchanges
d) escrow mechanism for addressing of credit risks in power generation etc.
All these factors have lead to significant interest of private sector in power
generation.
Following chart depicts growth of private sector in power generation space7.
7 MoP: Report of The Working Group on Power for Twelfth Plan (2012-17).
20%
2%
12%
66%
Generation MW
Hydro Nuclear RES Thermal
Page | 11
The private sector accounted for only 14 % of the total installed
capacity as of March 2008. Presently, the private partnership in generation
has increased to 29.49% (January 2013)8. The private sector accounts for
62,459.24 MW of generation capacity out of 211766.22 MW.
2.3.3 Performance Trends: PAF/PLF/Efficiency
Historically, performance of the power plants in India has been poor in
terms of plant availability (PAF), generation (PLF) and efficiency terms.
Recent trends indicate improvement in performance with average PLF of
70.76% in FY12-13 from 57.1% in FY 91-929.
8 CEA: January,2013 report of Installed capacity of all utilities across the country. 9 CEA: Operation performance of generating stations in the country during the year 2010-11.
Figure 5: Private participation in Power Generation and its increasing trend
1934.8
16227
42131
10th FYP 11th FYP 12th FYP proposed
Generation addition in Private Sector
31%
40%
29%
Installed Capacity (January 2013)
Center State Private
65.00%
70.00%
75.00%
80.00%
Average PLF
Average PLF
Figure 6: Plant Load Factor Trends
Page | 12
Though the performance appears to be improving, a detailed analysis
reveals that improvement is mainly driven by increasing private sector
participation and improved performance of the central sector plants. However,
the power plants under the state sector lag behind these two significantly. The
sector wise PLF data10 (as on April, 2012) from CEA indicates following:
As indicated in the above chart, the state sector plants are operating at
very low load factors. The state sector currently accounts for 43 % of the total
installed capacity. This indicates that even a 5% improvement in state sector
plant utilization would add generation equivalent to 4300 MW of capacity.
The plant utilization can be improved through improved availability of plants.
This would require proactive maintenance practices to bring down
unscheduled breakdown of the equipments, thereby increasing the plant
availability. Thus increasing the plant availability will help in increasing the
plant utilization and so its generation.
2.3.4 Trends in Demand Supply Gap
As per CEA report the energy availability in the country has increased
by 5.6% in 2010-11, while the peak demand met has increased by 6% during
the same period. Despite the increase in availability, India faced an energy
10 CEA report : All India plant load factor ( % ) during apr.12
76.68
69.31
81.47
72.53
82.21
71.67
82.13
75.21
Centre State Private All india
Plant Load Factor (PLF) april 2012
Projected Achieved
Figure 7: PLF comparison of different sectors
Page | 13
deficit of 8.5% and a peak deficit of 10.3% in 2010-11. In 2009-10 energy
deficit was 11% and peak demand deficit was 11.9%. It is expected that the
energy deficit and peak deficit will rise to 10% and 13% respectively in 2011-
1211.
The assessment of the anticipated power supply position in the Country
during the year 2011-12 has been made taking into consideration the power
availability from various stations in operation and fuel availability. Forecast of
power requirement and deficit for year 2012-1312:
Table 1: The energy demand and gap in the year 2012-13
Energy Demand Peak Demand
Requirement Availability Deficit Demand Met Deficit
MU MU % MW MW %
Total 998114 911209 8.7 135453 123294 9.0
The above data indicates that we will continue to face energy shortages
for foreseeable future.
2.3.5 Increasing shortage of skilled workforce
With the acceleration in growth of the generation sector there is an
increase in the manpower requirement every year. It was estimated that a total
of 5,10,000 additional manpower would be required for Construction,
Operation and Maintenance of capacity being implemented in the 12th Plan.
Category Construction Operation & Maintenance (Including
To address the issue of Shortage of skilled and trained manpower, an
Adopt an ITI scheme was launched in July 2007 under which project
developers and contractors were asked to adopt it is in the vicinity of their
project sites. Many PSUs and private developers have since adopted it is.
As it can be observed from CEA/MoP estimates, the training &
education infrastructure of India is not likely to cope up to the requirement. To
add to this, it is also observed that the manpower available (both skilled &
semiskilled) lacks the skills & experience required13.
Overall, above two factors (a) Lack of availability of educated/trained
manpower and (b) shortage of skills & experience within available manpower
has lead to higher demand of skilled & experienced personnel. This also is
evident from the attrition rates observed in power sector entities in recent
times14. It is also observed that this organization in the power sector have not
observed such high attrition rates historically & hence not fully equipped to
respond to such challenges. This has also lead to increase in O & M cost for
certain power plants – especially small & medium size power plants. Typical
response chosen by small organizations has been to conduct anticipatory
recruitment to match the attrition, leading to either cost increases or
deterioration of performance.
2.3.6 Changes in technology and increasing foreign suppliers
Though the fundamental principles of power generation have remained
same, technological advancements have lead to supercritical and ultra
supercritical plants with higher temperatures & pressures. Besides these, new
technologies like fluidized bed combustion (AFBC/CFBC/PFBC) are evolving
& getting higher acceptance across the globe. In India, we had our no plants
13 Working group on power report, Tata Strategic Management Report 14 Indian Express article: Power sector faces higher attrition, Dated:12th June, 2012
Page | 15
with such technology till 10th FYP and today, we are seeing that significant
number of plants being built on such advanced technologies. This also poses
a challenge to present workforce to adapt to these changes so quickly,
increasing importance of mid-career trainings & skills up gradation. .
Foreign suppliers mainly Chinese have also increased focus on the
Indian power market due to various factors. All These factors have increased
the need of more professional and skilled personnel. Deployment of skilled
foreign personnel is also important to ensure necessary skills transfer to local
workforce.
We have seen six fundamental trends that are shaping the power
generation sector: a) Dominance of thermal in power generation capacity b)
increasing private sector participation c) Demand Supply Gaps d) Need for
improvement in plant utilization factors e) Increasing shortage of skilled
workforce and f) Chancing technology and increasing foreign suppliers. These
trends are leading to certain requirements for power generation which are
outlined below.
2.4 Emerging Needs of Generation Sector
All above six trends, collectively, indicate that it is imperative for India to
focus on improved asset utilization for existing and upcoming power generation
assets. This would require right O & M practices & expertise. It would be increasingly
important for power generators to
i) Improve plant availability & utilization
ii) Improve efficiency of power generation
iii) Reduce Station Heat Rate
iv) Operation and Maintenance Practices
v) Bring down cost of power generation.
In today‟s competitive markets prices are generally set by market condition. In this
context, power generators have to compete with each other in the market. Industry
would need to learn to cope with this competitive pressure. This implies need for
focusing on efficient operations as the key to profitability. Operation and Maintenance
Page | 16
cost has a direct reflection on the cost of generation and hence there is need to
optimize the same.
2.5 Introduction to a Potential Solution
The requirements of the sector outlined in chapter combined with the
challenges posed by trends analysed above, indicate that we need a solution which can
enable a) harnessing private sector efficiencies, b) maintenance and service delivery
with focus on life cycle costs, c) create opportunities to bring in innovation and
technological improvements and d) enable affordable and improved services to the
users in a responsible and sustainable manner.
All above points indicate to bringing in private sector participation &
competition in to the sector. Following chapter examines suitability of this idea in
Indian power generation sector, especially for the plants already commissioned under
the state GENCOs in detail.
Page | 17
3. EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT
3.1 Introduction
Tracking the losses can do energy conservation in a thermal Power Plant. The
tracking of losses can be done by regular energy audit of the TPP. Energy audit
focuses on gray areas. Losses may be controllable or uncontrollable. These losses
need to be identified and a time bound action plan needs to be drawn up for
minimizing such losses. Energy efficiency improvement exercise involving multi
disciplinary activities in existing power plants assume great importance.
Keeping in view of the high capital cost in newer capacity addition,
Sethi(1986) suggested improvement in energy efficiency during conversion from heat
to electricity is one of the potential areas for energy saving. Energy audit will thus go
a long way in improving energy efficiency of existing plants. This requires check on
fuel consumption, auxiliary power consumption, heat rate and heat balance of thermal
systems. There is need of introducing of practice of periodic in house performance
testing of existing plants for determining fuel consumption, boiler efficiency and
turbine heat rate.
National Productivity Council (1994) suggested the following objectives in
Operation & Maintenance (O&M) which may result in achieving the desired
improvements in energy efficiency.
Monitoring Station Heat Rate
Monitoring fuels consumption
Monitoring auxiliary power consumption
Monitoring parameters with respect to design condition
Plugging leakage
Operating efficient units in merit order
Identifying negative impacts on energy efficiency
Preparing for crisis management
Page | 18
3.2 Station Heat Rate (SHR)
Station Heat Rate (SHR) is an important factor to assess the efficiency of a
thermal power station. Efficiency of TPS is a function of station heat rate and it is
inversely proportional to SHR. If SHR reduces, efficiency increases, resulting in fuel
saving. Station heat rate improvement also helps in reducing pollution from TPS. In
this direction, Performance Evaluation Division of CEA had devised a Performa to
monitor the various parameters of efficiency of thermal power stations. On
monitoring, the data of station heat rate parameters had been received. The data of
operating station heat rate parameters so received have been compiled & analysed for
instituting an incentive scheme on Improved Station Heat Rate (SHR) and have been
compared with design SHR of the IPP. The analysis of Station Heat Rate parameters
as given below has been carried out broadly in two categories of the stations with
SHR variation between (a) Controllable Parameter (b) Uncontrollable Parameter
categories have been considered as efficient. All the unit analysed have used coal as
primary fuel to generate power and oil as secondary fuel for starting purposes. The
analysis has been carried out on the unit basis.
3.2.1 The New Scenario
After the Indian Electricity Act 2003 introduce the competition in
power sector. This new competitive scenario, power station must faces,
To reduce the generating cost
To maintain high availability, efficiency and operational flexibility
To meet strict environmental condition
To manage and extend the equipment life including system
modernization
3.2.2 Cost of Generation
The cost of electricity generation is depends upon two types of cost,
one is the fixed cost another is the variable cost. The company wants to
increase their net profit. The company main aim should be reduce the
generation cost. Most of the generation cost is the variable cost. So the
company concentrated on the reduction of variable cost. The overall variable
Page | 19
cost components are the plant availability factor, station heat rate, specific fuel
oil consumption, auxiliary power consumption. The variable cost decides the
competitiveness of the electric units in a generating pool. The unit fuel cost is
the approximately 70% of the total unit variable cost. The main fuel cost
component is the station heat rate (kcal/kWh). To reduce the variable cost
through the heat rate improvement of a coal based electricity generating unit.
3.2.3 Heat Rate
"Heat Rate" is a broad measure of thermal efficiency of a power plant
in the conversion of fuel into electricity. It measures the amount of heat input
in kilo-calories per hour for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced.
“Unit Heat Rate” is a measurement of electricity generating unit heat
rate factor. This is also effective for the efficiency improvement of a power
plant. The formulae of measuring unit heat rate is,
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑈𝐻𝑅 =𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 (
𝑘𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑊
)
𝐵𝑜𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
“Station Heat Rate” is directly measurement input and output factor of
a power plant. It measure by the following formulae.
Therefore a higher load factor usually means more output and a
lower cost per unit, which means an electricity generator can sell more
electricity at a higher spark spread.
The plant load factor trends of unit 1,2&3 are shown in the figure-
21. This figure contains five months trends of all the units. The plant load
factor goes high in the month of March‟13 and worst plant load factor in
the month of January‟13 and April‟13.
The company is implementing DMAIC project manager for
improving the plant load factor and also set the base line. The baseline of
plant load factor is 79 and 86 is the target. The status of the DMAIC
project manager is shown below figure 22.
Figure 22: DMAIC Status Report on PLF
50
57
67
51
62
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
PLF Trend (%) considering Unit1,2&3
Figure 21: Plant Load Factor Trends
Page | 35
The company is implementing DMAIC project manager for
improving the plant load factor
4.4.2.2 Specific Oil Consumption (SOC)
The Specific Secondary Fuel Oil Consumption for the purpose of
startup-shutdown and flame stabilization. The Central Electricity
Regulatory Committee set the parameter for using the specific oil
consumption. According to the CERC norms SOC for all types of coals,
petroleum coke and vacuum residue is 1.0ml/gross kWh. The secondary
oil is used only for the lighting up of the plant.
The specific coal consumption trends from January to May for
three units are shown Figure 23. The trend shows that the specific oil
consumption of the month of February is very less and below the target. In
the month of January SOC is very high. It means the plant was shut down
many times.
The company set their target to reduce the SOC at 0.1ml/kWh.
That reduction target is gives the benefit for less generation cost. The base
line of SOC is 0.87 which is quite higher than the target value. The figure
24 shows the DMAIC status report of May.
0.64
0.070.13
0.26
0.37
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
SOC Trend
SOC
Figure 23: Specific Oil Consumption
Page | 36
Figure 24: DMAIC Status of Specific Oil Consumption
4.4.2.3 Specific Coal Consumption (SCC)
The effect of various coal properties like ash content, moisture
content, fixed carbon and calorific value on specific coal consumption in a
typical thermal power station in India is analysed. It is observed that the
specific coal consumption is a strong function of moisture content, ash
content and fixed carbon. For the Thermal Power Station (the one
considered in the present analysis), it is observed that, for an increase in
moisture content by 2%, the specific coal consumption increases by about
8%. If, however, the ash content is increased by 2%, the specific coal
consumption increases by about 5%. It is also observed that, for a 4%
increase in fixed carbon, the specific coal consumption decreases by about
25%. It also can be reduce by station heat rate reduction methodology.
Which is already discussed detailed in previous chapter. So the specific
coal consumption can be shown in terms of SHR. The figure 25 showed
five months SHR trends.
Page | 37
Figure 25: Trends of Station Heat Rate
The design value of unit heat rate is 2257kcal/kWh. But if we are
compare with the graph value of heat rate which is quite high. High
station heat rate is one of the reasons for losses of the plant. Implementing
the DMAIC project manager for reduce the losses. Status report of the
DMAIC is shown in the figure 26.
Figure 26: DMAIC Status of Station Heat Rate
4.4.2.4 Auxiliary Power Consumption (APC)
Power plant produces electrical energy and also consumes a
substantial amount of energy in the form of auxiliary consumption
required for various plant equipment and services. The auxiliary power
consumption varies from 6 – 14 % depending on the plant size and age of
the plant.
2454
2495
2448
2347
2369
2424
23872374
2506
2430
2409
2527
2415
2522
2423
2,250
2,300
2,350
2,400
2,450
2,500
2,550
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
SHR Trends for Unit 1,2 &3 in (Kcal/KWh)
Unit1 unit2 unit3
Page | 38
The auxiliary power consumption plays a major role in enriching
the energy efficiency of the thermal power plant. As per the norms APC
should well within the 10%. Since Thermal power plant is also falls under
energy intensive consumer category like railways, metal industries, port
trust etc. Electricity Act features it is paramount importance to analyze the
consumption pattern of the plant and work on various areas so as to boost
up the efficiency of cycles and sub-cycle.
Capacity Group in MW Auxiliary Power Consumption (%)
500 MW 6.63
250 MW 8.80
210 MW 8.77
100-200 MW 10.32
Less than 100 MW 10.31
Table 5: Auxiliary Power Consumption1315
Factors affecting the APC:
Plant load factor = high
Operational efficiency of the equipment = Moderate
Start-up and shutdown = low
Age of the plant = high
Coal quality = Moderate to high
The figure 27 shows auxiliary power consumption trend for all units.
Figure 27: Trends of APC
15 CEA Auxiliary Power Consumption Regulation
9.67
8.36 8.078.59
7.68.17 8.01 8.11 8.19 8.468.19
8.577.91 8.07 8.28
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
APC trend (%) for unit1,2&3
Unit1 unit2 unit3
Page | 39
The company wants to reduce the auxiliary power consumption
and increase the plant efficiency. In present scenario auxiliary power
consumption of all the units are higher according to the CEA guide line.
Now the company set the target to reduce the APC at 8.0% where base
line is 9.87% of total generation. The APC reduction program status is
shown figure 28.
Figure 28: DMAIC Status of Auxiliary Power Consumption
4.4.2.5 Plant Availability Factor (PAF)
Energy efficiency is the least expensive way for power and process
industries to meet a growing demand for cleaner energy, and this applies
to the power generating industry as well. In most fossil-fuel steam power
plants, between 7 to 15 percent of the generated power never makes it past
the plant gate, as it is diverted back to the facility‟s own pumps, fans and
other auxiliary systems. This auxiliary equipment has a critical role in the
safe operation of the plant and can be found in all plant systems. Perhaps
the diversity of applications is one reason why a comprehensive approach
to auxiliaries is needed to reduce their proportion of gross power and to
decrease plant heat rate.
The plant availability is divided into two availability factor. These are,
i. Critical Equipment Availability
ii. Station Availability
Critical Equipment availability is directly affecting the plant
availability factor. Whether all the equipment of the plant are available
any time. Plant can be stop due to this reason. So this availability is most
Page | 40
important. Present trends of critical equipment availability are show in
figure 29.
Figure 29: Trends of Critical Equipment Availability
The critical equipment availability should be increase for better
plant availability. The company follows the nine steps for maintenance the
plant equipment. The status of the nine steps is shows figure 30.
Figure 30: Status Report for Critical Equipment Availability
Station availability is depends upon various factor. Station
availability is the main reason for 100% PLF. The trends of station
availability shows figure 31.
92.83
97.07
93.45
91.98
93.87
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
Critical equipment availability (%)
Page | 41
Figure 31: Trends of Station Availability
4.4.3 Process Management
The result section described above is the outcome of the process carried
out in the plant. So in order to bring about any change in the result there must be
procedural or process changes implemented. The approach taken for bringing the
desired result or fulfilling the business plan for the above mentioned five
parameters are categorized below.
Figure 32: Spider Diagram of Process Management
54
73 73
8085
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Jan'13 Feb'13 Mar'13 Apr'13 May'13
Station Availability
Basic Equipment Condition
PM/CBM compliance
Spare Parts Management …
Maintenance Facilities
SOP compliance
Contractor Management
Budget and Cost Control
Safety & Regulatory Compliance
Process Management
Page | 42
Basic Equipment Condition:
Basic equipment includes all those equipment which are mostly
required to run a power plant effectively. These include various pumps,
transformers, HV & LT drives and monitoring equipment.
There must be a maintenance schedule for various equipment and job
responsibilities should be fixed for the maintenance of the equipments. The
log book of the equipment must be maintained mentioning the date of
maintenance, spares changed, man hours employed etc. Regular analysis of
equipment must be done giving due weightage to corrective action and
preventive action. Planned maintenance schedule must be formulated and
strictly adhered.
Performance Management & Condition Based Monitoring:
Employee must be aware of the SMP and review of PM schedule
adherence. If there is any slippage in adherence proper curative action must be
implemented. The work order logged for the job must be according to the
standard prescribed and if possible in SI system. There must be guidelines for
tracking the adherence to CAPA (corrective action and preventive action).
Moreover the higher authority or management must be made aware of the
equipment availability through regular MTTR and MTBF. So that proper
planning for future course is done in advance.
Contractor Performance:
The contractor must be made aware of the key Performance Indicators
for the respective department in line the business plan. Proper list of tools
must be maintained with proper calibration plan and its implementation
adherence. There must be proper framework for capacity building of the
employee and emphasis must be on skill mapping.
Spare Parts Management:
The management must be aware of the critical spares for respective
equipment. A critical equipment list must be made for the reference of the
Page | 43
employee. Proper Procedure must be laid down to preserve critical spares
along with optimum level of stock of the critical equipment so as to ensure
smooth uninterrupted running of plant.
Budget Cost Control:
There must be a budget allocated for every work area and the
employees must be aware of the budget allocated to their work area. A system
for tracking cost centre wise and actual SAP must be established. In addition
to that there must be mechanism to control cost of various centers.
Maintenance Facility:
Employees must be aware of the area of their work. 5S (Annexure I)
practices must be adhered to. Unwanted items must be removed and there
must be designated Red Tag area identification. Defining area must be
allocated for tools, spares and visual controls. A system of self assessment
with action plan for improvement must be laid down.
Safety and Regulation:
There must be awareness among the employees about the safe working
practices and periodic training must be provided to inculcate the habit of
safety. Safety workshop must be arranged for the employees and due
importance must be given to safety rules and regulation. Employees must be
aware of the operation on the Interlock & Protection testing .There must be a
standard operation procedure of operating various equipment.
4.4.4 Enablers
Enablers are like catalyst they helping, fastening or speeding up the
process. This enabler is supports to deliver desired results. Enablers promote an
organization from present scenario to targeted status.
Page | 44
Figure 33: Diagram of Process Management
Goal Development:
There must be awareness about the business plan at the plant level and
department level. Proper drill must be followed adhering the KPI‟s to achieve
the primary goal of the plant. There must be proper understanding about the
need and requirement of each department by means of voice of customers.
Awareness must be spread about the various service level agreements between
different departments where each of them are internal customer of each other.
Continuous Improvement:
There must be arrangement for regular and effective tracking of all the
improvement projects with specific framework.
Building capability by means of training on various tools and
methodology to the members involved in the project also includes in the
program.
Reward Recognition & Skill Development:
A comprehensive Reward and Recognition system must be developed
for the employees. There must be awareness among the employees about this
system. The system must be able to evaluate the performance of the
employees and also the shortcomings. Based on these shortcomings there must
Goal Deployment
Skills Development
Continuous Improvement
Reward & Recognition …
Organisation & Performance …
Results
Enablers and Results
Page | 45
be training of the employees focusing on the KSA elements. Training calendar
based on the shortcoming must be based on each employee‟s shortcomings.
The training adherence must be monitored and its effectiveness must be
traceable.
Organization performance management:
This includes the establishment of Asset Optimization war room in
each and every department and coordinating with War rooms of various
departments. This also includes the analysis of KPI of various departments and
determines the effectiveness of the asset optimization program by comparing
the past and present performance of the organization as a whole.
The effect of implementation of asset optimization can be seen from
the performance diagram below figure 34 and 35.
Figure 34: Performance Diagram of Process Management
67%
65%
25%
90%
100%
78%
80%
80%
Basic Equipment Condition
PM/CBM compliance
Spare Parts Management
Practices
Maintenance Facilities
SOP compliance
Contractor Management
Budget and Cost Control
Safety & Regulatory Compliance
Process Management
May April
Page | 46
Figure 35: Enablers and Results of Process Management
83%
17%
17%
100%
90%
40%
Goal Deployment
Skills Development
Continuous Improvement
Reward & Recognition
practices
Organisation & Performance management
Results
Enablers and Results
May
April
Page | 47
5. STRENGTHENING O & M PRACTICES IN COAL
FIRED POWER GENERATION PLANT IN INDIA
5.1 Introduction
The Plant Load Factor (PLF) of private-sector thermal power plants in India in
April, 2012 was on an average 82.13 percent compared with 82.21 percent for central-
sector NTPC power plants and 71.67 percent for state-sector power plants. Among the
private-sector power plants also, there is a wide performance range with more than 90
percent PLF for some power plants. It is seen that most of the high performing power
plants have adopted modern Operations and Maintenance (O&M) practices and
systems. There is a significant scope for improving the performance of the
underperforming private-sector power plants just by focusing on the O&M practices /
systems.
Improving performance of private-sector power plants through interventions
aimed at strengthening O&M practices, coupled with required rehabilitation and life
extension interventions is perhaps the quickest and least cost alternative for
augmenting availability of power in the Indian context. If all the available generation
units can be utilized at an average PLF similar to central sector units through
rehabilitation combined with better O&M practices. Although such high levels of
performance may be difficult to achieve across all private-sector power plants, the
potential benefits of focusing on improved power plant performance are clearly
immense. Improved O&M practices are also necessary to sustain the performance of
rehabilitated power plants as well as new power plants. Government of India
initiatives in this regard (Partnership in Excellence – PIE Program) also amply
demonstrated the potential benefits.
For enhancing the O&M practices, multiple interventions are required across
the various aspects including people, technology, process and facilities/infrastructure.
Operational practices improvement will require setting up an Operations and
Efficiency (O&E) cell at the plant which needs to complement the current corporate
performance oversight process. It would also require setting up a Trip Committee at
the plant to analyze the root causes of unforeseen outages. There is also a need for
designing a framework for assessment of losses on commercial basis.
Page | 48
Maintenance practices enhancement shall require short-term interventions in
the form of establishing and strengthening the maintenance planning function through
establishment of a Maintenance Planning Cell along with preparation of a Plant Asset
Database and a Condition Monitoring Plan. Longer term interventions could be
towards investing in a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and
developing a decision support system linking maintenance costs to reliability levels of
station.
Generation budgeting process would need to be strengthened through
establishment of an in-house Budget Committee and the preparation of a
comprehensive Budget Manual along with conducting training for the utility
personnel to operate in a performance based budget regime. In the area of Generation
Planning, there is a need to slowly move from the 'Bottom Up' approach (based on
what is readily achievable) of generation target setting to the 'Top Down' approach
(based on the desired level of performance). Enablers for achieving these targets
should be identified and all out efforts be made to achieve them.
There is a need to establish a Quality Assurance function along with
introduction of Quality Assurance Plan in tenders and developing strong vendors
through long-term contracts for spares and services. The existing inventory levels
could be rationalized through classification on Vital-Essential-Desirable (VED) basis
for the ease of setting differential procurement strategies for the same. Also spares
banks could be established to benefit from reduced inventory holding by pooling
spares across plants at close distances.
A deeper appreciation of cost related aspects needs to be inculcated at the
utility through development of a costing framework and establishment of cost codes
and operationalising the same with requisite training to the finance personnel. Over a
long term based on the benefit assessment, the utility may migrate to an Activity
Based Costing (ABC) System.
Human resource related aspects are a key concern with most utilities. In
particular, there is a need to have robust job descriptions with clearly identified
accountabilities to establish Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) and Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs). The established KRAs and KPIs should feed into an improved
Page | 49
Performance Management process. A structured approach towards training has to be
developed both for the plant and corporate level staff. Given the increasing
complexities of operating the assets in a competitive regime, it is essential that a
rigorous skill gap analysis is conducted and suitable measures taken towards training
and recruitment of staff.
5.2 Background
5.2.1 Sector Background
The Indian power sector suffers from considerable electricity supply shortages
(peak deficit of 9.0 percent and energy deficit of 8.7 percent in 2012-13). The
Government of India (GoI) is addressing this problem both through a major green
field capacity augmentation program and through rehabilitation of existing coal
fired generation capacity. Around thirty percent of India‟s power is owned by
private utilities, and a significant part of this is reported to be in a poor condition,
with plant load factors of about 82.13 percent (with some plants having lower than
55 percent) and station heat rates of about 3,000 kcal/kWh (in some cases up to
3,500 kcal/kWh).
5.2.2 The Plant Load Factor (PLF)
The PLF of private-sector thermal power plants in India in 2012-13 was on
an average 82.13 percent compared with 82.21 percent for NTPC power plants in
the state sector and 71.67 percent for private-sector power plants – clearly
indicating the significant scope for improving performance of state-sector power
plants. However, there is a wide performance range among the state-sector power
plants themselves, with PLF of more than 90 percent for some power plants. It is
also seen that almost all power plants which exhibit high PLF also have better
energy efficiency performance as well – typically less than 10% deviation from the
design heat rate, compared to up to 50% deviation in some cases.
Page | 50
Improving performance of state-sector power plants through interventions
aimed at strengthening operations and maintenance practices is essential to ensure
optimum performance of the power plant both from the Availability as well as
Efficiency aspects.
5.3 Key Technical Problem area of O&M Practices in India
The key technical problem areas typically identified under the Performance
Improvement Program were as follows:
Poor condition of boiler pressure parts with high erosion, overheating,
external corrosion, oxide deposits, weak headers and pressurized furnace etc.
Poor water chemistry has affected the condition of boiler and turbine in many
cases. The water treatment plant is often in a dilapidated condition.
Poor performance of air pre-heaters due to blocked elements and high seal
leakage
Poor performance of the milling system resulting in high un-burnt carbon. This
was often a result of lack of preventive or scheduled maintenance.
Poor condition of Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) resulting in high
emissions.
Problems of high axial shift, vibrations and differential expansion in Turbine
0
10
20
30
40
50
0-5% 5-20% Above 20%
SHR Deviation in Private sector Power Plant (2010-11)
Per
cen
tage
of
Po
wer
Pla
nt
Figure 36: SHR Deviation in Private Sector Power Plant
Page | 51
Low vacuum in condenser due to dirty / plugged tubes, air ingress and tube
leakages
High vibrations in Boiler Feed Pumps and Condensate Pumps and passing of
recirculation valves, resulting in low discharge
High pressure heater not in service in most of the units, directly impacting the
energy efficiency performance
Deficiencies in electrical systems including High HT and LT motor failures,
poor condition of DC system, non-availability of Unit Auxiliary Transformer
etc
Poor condition of Balance of Plant (BoP) resulting in under-utilization of
capacities
5.4 Developing and Implementing a Performance Improvement Programme
Achieving significant improvements in plant performance over a short period
requires a “Performance Improvement Program” (PIP) which would identify the key
aspects that hold maximum potential for yielding performance improvements, develop
steps towards addressing those aspects and systematically implement the same. The
PIP process should start with an assessment of the current operational practices both
managerial and technical, including inter-alia an assessment of various technical
subsystems of the plant to bring out the minimum technical interventions needed to
sustain regular functioning of the plant. Such an assessment could also tie-in with a
Residual Life Assessment of the plant which would indicate the need for
rehabilitation (R&M) interventions, including need for upgrading Control and
Instrumentation systems. In Parallel, the PIP process requires steps to be initiated for
strengthening the managerial and organizational systems as described in the later
sections of this note.
The PIP serves as the overall change management theme, covering several
individual activities which are outlined in the subsequent sections of this note. The
overall phases of a PIP are:
Awareness Phase, including unit benchmarking and forecasting worth of unit
improvement.
Page | 52
Identification Phase, including equipment /
component benchmarking, High Impact-Low
Probability benchmarking, trend analysis and
creating a wide range of solution options using
input from many sources.
Evaluation Phase, including using advanced
methods to justify, select optimal timing and
prioritizing among many competing projects as
well as day-to-day O&M decisions, both
reactive and increasingly proactive decision-
making.
Implementation Phase, including using the results of the evaluations to select that
group of projects offering the best use of the limited resources, goal-setting based on
the projects actually chosen for implementation,
It is also essential to track the actual results of implemented projects and
compare these results to the expectations used in the evaluations and finally
incorporating feedback of these results into the first three phases of the process. The
various aspects of change necessary for performance improvement are brought out in
the subsequent sections, starting with industry best practices on operations.
5.5 Enhancement of Operational Practices
Existing Operational Practices in State Sector Coal Fired Power Plants
Operational practices among state-sector power generation utilities in India display a
wide spectrum, with some of the better managed utilities exhibiting superior systems
and procedures, while most of the remaining have critical gaps in several key
operational areas, leading to reduced plant performance in terms of availability,
generation and energy efficiency.
Owing to a legacy of focus on plant load factor, most utilities still do not pay
adequate attention to energy efficiency aspects. Regular energy audits (including
efficiency tests for boiler, turbine and other sub-systems) are not carried out in most
cases. Heat rate and specific oil consumption targets are fixed and monitored for the
station as whole and as a result unit-level energy efficiency related issues do not get
identified and addressed. Auxiliary power consumption is often not measured
Figure 37: Perf Improvement Program
Page | 53
systematically and is generally computed by deducting sent out energy from the total
energy generated. In the absence of any trend analysis and benchmarking,
opportunities for improvement do not get identified.
Coal accountability issues both external and internal to the plant, including
availability and accurate measurement of quantity as well as quality (calorific value)
have a direct bearing on technical and commercial performance of the plant, but
continue to receive less than required attention.
Poor Water Chemistry Water quality and make-up quantity are often not
monitored systematically, leading to operational problems in boiler (for example more
frequent tube failures) and turbine (for example deposits on blades).
In many utilities, well documented operating procedures are not available to
the relevant staff who executes their functions based on personal experience. As a
result, staff response to various situations becomes subjective and may lead to sub-
optimal approaches in addressing operational issues. Such responses may sometimes
cause avoidable tripping and forced outages, and in some cases even reduce
equipment availability, reliability and life. The observations from independent
consultants on one such poorly operated power plant are provided in Text Box-1.
“Text Box-1”: Consultant's Observations on Use of Procedures, Manuals and Instructions
at a Select Power Plant:
Independent Consultants have reported that the various operating procedures are not available
with the plant shift personnel or shift-in-charge in well-documented form. The original OEM
manuals are available in limited quantity for reference on a requirement basis. There is no library or
Centralized documentation centre. The originals are therefore difficult to be located at one place. Signature check-lists for equipment lining up and various systems start-up and shut down were also
not available which is utilized by most utilities for standardizing such operational processes.
Equipment changeover guidelines along with key process diagrams for critical equipments along
with checking procedures at local for critical and non-frequented equipment were also observed to
be absent at the Power Plant. During the field visit, the consultants noted that the Key process