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THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS ON ELECTRICAL & POWER

MAHENG/2012/47805 Vol 3 Issue 8 Pages 60 June 1, 2015 `100/- www.eprmagazine.com

An I-Tech Media Publication

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An in-depth analysis on how the transformer market is going to grasp the opportunities and overcome challenges

EPR PERSONALITYGaetan Tiberghien, International Finance Corporation

ONE-ON-ONEDeepesh Nanda, GE South Asia

FEATuRECoal-linkage to captive power plants: the inside story

INduSTRY ANALYSISCogeneration is the way to go

One-On-One

Electrical & Power ReviewJune 201534

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GE Power & Water is one of the global leaders in power generation and water technologies for utilities, independent power producers and industrial applications. It is a name to be reckoned with in the development, service and support of advanced heavy-duty gas turbines. In an exclusive interview with EPR, Deepesh Nanda talks about the GE power generation business in India, how GE gas turbine is transforming the power industry and the Industrial Internet the next big step from GE.

The government is targeting to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. How is the growth of renewable going to affect the overall power sector?GE has always been a supporter of government policies in terms of renewable energy. We have a large business which is into renewable energy. We have a plant in Pune that manufactures wind turbines. We are also the largest player globally in this segment. We look at the governments moves and policies on renewable energy as a positive sign for GE.

China is aggressively promoting gas turbine plants in a bid to reduce dependence on coal plants and promote fuel diversification. Where does India stand?India has an installed base of close to 240-250 GW. In this mix, about 10 per cent is gas-based power and about 60 per cent is coal-based power. In the 10 per cent gas-based power, we have around 24 GW of installed capacity. The sector has faced issues in the past 3-4 years because of the non-availability of affordable

gas. Among the 24 GW, around 14-15 GW is at operation at part loads, while the balance is completely stranded.

Recently, the government has taken several steps, especially the notification which was issued in March. The government will come up with a bidding process for the gas plants to get operational. The technical round got over on 7th May, while the commercial bidding is underway. The government is looking at this sector and has come up with policies to restart the capacity which has been stagnant. By the end of the bidding process, we will at least have some part of the 24 GW in operation.

What makes the gas turbines the technology of choice for future capacity additions?Some things clearly stand out in the gas-based power generation. To begin with, it is clean. The amount of emissions a gas-based power station would emit is lesser than a coal-based power plant. It is also quicker to set up. Whenever you have a large grid, you will need gas-based power that can ramp up quickly, depending upon the load cycle. So the complete load management with the gas-based power capacity is much more efficient, especially when you inject a lot of renewable load in the grid. The gas-based power generation helps balance the load management.

On the broader side, while India is seeing possibility of gas, the rest of the globe is experiencing golden age of gas. In the US,

We have an installed base of 250 gas turbines in India, which makes us the largest gas turbine OEM, says Deepesh Nanda, GE Region General Manager, PGP and PGS, GE South Asia

GE H-class gas turbine: a transformation in the industry

We want to bring our global experience to the Indian market, but we also expect to learn a lot from India in return, remarks Adam Welsh, Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs, Asia-Pacific, Opower

One-On-One

Electrical & Power ReviewJune 201536

Deepesh Nanda interviewContinued from 34 f

we have the entire shale gas revolution. Middle East or Qatar has been a very big supplier over there. We have gas available in Australia and Russia too, but when it comes to India, Japan and Korea, we can see non-availability of affordable gas. Also, the prices tend to be higher than the other parts of the world. In the future, the technology to refrigerate, transport and gasification will improve and the cost will come down, which will make gas-based power plants more affordable.

Due to the development across the globe, in terms of gas-based power technology, GE has been investing a lot in innovative products and coming out with technologies to improve the efficiency of the gas turbines.

GE is the largest supplier of heavy-duty gas turbine. How is GE H-class gas turbine transforming the industry?GE has the ability to invest in new technology to improve the efficiency of the gas turbines. This results in products that deliver the lowest cost of electricity. This is a clear advantage that the class 9 HA turbine offers. The other is operational flexibility, which is enjoyed by the customers using 9 HA turbine

By operational flexibility, I mean if you have to start the gas turbine, you have a 10-minute ramp up from start command to gas turbine full load. This process happens in 10 minutes flat. Up to 70 MW per minute of ramp capability within the compliant limits of emission is what this turbine achieves. Then the turbine is also less complex, i.e. it does not require a

separate air-cooling system. In addition, the turbine is modular. .

While the world is aware about full-speed, no-load test facility, GE being the technology leader went ahead and took a decision to invest $2 billion in our 9HA technology where we came up with full-speed, full-load test facility. At our test facility, the gas turbines have been tested for about 200 hours. This is equivalent to running 500 units on the field. The test facility gives us the ability to understand the dynamics of the gas turbine much more than we would have got if the gas turbine had been installed on the field. So the customers get a reliable turbine. These are some of the advantages of 9HA.01 and 9HA.02 over other gas turbines.

If you look from the co-generation point of view, you have a 6F.01 gas turbine. What makes 6F.01 gas turbines unique?The 6F.01 is of the range of 50 MW, so if we take a typical 2:1 combined cycle arrangement, it gives us an output of close to 100 MW. In the 6F category, efficiency of the turbine is greater than 55 per cent on combined cycle. We have a very large base of installed gas turbines in India. We have a joint venture with BHEL on the services of some gas turbines. We also have technology collaboration with BHEL, for BHEL to manufacture these gas turbines.

We have an installed base of 250 gas turbines in India, which makes us the largest gas turbine OEM. The 6F.01 will find play in small IPP and industrial

units. In terms of efficiencies, there is a vast change for the better. As it is a new technology, we have also come up with combustion system through which it delivers PPM levels within the norms. The life of the parts of the gas turbine is of the nature where you have extended parts which are available today. Thanks to the technology that we have developed over the time. We have put together all the knowledge and manufactured the 6F.01 gas turbine in India. It is a very good product for small IPP and industrial customers who have got captive plants, especially for continuous operating plants like refineries, petrochemical and where you have a cogeneration requirement of coal power and steam.

GE is a big player in the power business. What are the other innovations we can expect from GE in steam- or gas-turbine segment?GEs investment in software solutions is an important element of innovation. GE has done a major investment in our software centre in San Ramon, California, where we would gather data for our equipment like gas turbines, steam turbines, aviation engines and wind turbines.

For data and analytics, we have the ability to manufacture decision making tools for our customers enabling them to monitor the plant operations and working of the turbine on a real time basis on a flat plain of glass. In such a set-up, we can monitor the working of the entire plant as well. The processes are mapped on a continuous basis through a censor, and the data is sent back to our servers.

We have high-end platforms to analyse the data coming in. After being analysed, the data is sent back to the customers who then can use the decision making tools in order to assess exactly what is happening in the power plant, and decide on the future course of action. This is an element of innovation, and GE has taken the first big step here. We have coined it as Industrial Internet, and this is going to be the future.

9HA Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine

01] EPR Cover June 1534] GE36] GE