Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned a 250 MW thermal power unit in Bihar. The unit has been commissioned at Barauni Extension thermal power project of Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited.
Located at Barauni in Begusarai district of Bihar, Barauni Extension power project has two units (Units 8&9) of 250 MW each. The other unit (Unit 9) is also in advanced stages of execution and is expected to be commissioned shortly.
Notably, this project is being set up by BHEL on the ash dyke of old thermal units. This calls for special civil engineering for ground improvements and by successful commissioning of the unit, BHEL has demonstrated its exceptional engineering and execution capabilities. This utilization of the unproductive ash dyke for this purpose also addresses the issue of land scarcity.
The project was awarded to BHEL on Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) basis, including complete engineering, manufacturing and supply of equipment; erection & commissioning and civil works of all the plant utilities. Major equipment for the project has been manufactured by BHEL at its Haridwar, Trichy, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Jhansi and Bengaluru plants, while the construction of the plant has been undertaken by the company’s Power Sector – Eastern Region.
At Barauni, in addition to setting up of new units of 250 MW, BHEL is also carrying out Renovation & Modernisation (R&M) of two existing units (Units 6&7) of 110 MW, which were earlier set up by BHEL more than 30 years ago. While the R&M of Unit 7 has been completed, work on Unit 6 is in advanced stages of completion.
BHEL has so far commissioned around 4,400 MW capacity of power plant in Bihar for various power developers, accounting for about 84% of the total installed capacity in the state. In addition to Barauni Extension thermal power project and R&M of earlier units in Bihar, BHEL is also executing 4×250 MW and 3×660 MW thermal power projects at Nabinagar, Bihar.