Who is to Rule the Indian Power Equipment Market: "India or China"?

In the recent times there has been a lot discussion wandering in almost all sectors that have been effected due to the recent rupee depreciation. A number of constructive measures are being planned by investigating all possible causes for this effect. One such cause considered is the import of foreign equipment. This looks weird for the nation to act only when there is an impulse due to a measure imposed earlier, which in original needed a much prior anticipation of what is the actual outcome. The Indian Power Equipment manufacturers are looking out for a level play field in establishing competition with the Chinese equipment manufacturers.The recent significant increase in India's power generation capacity has come at a price. Power equipment imported from China is known to be at very attractive prices compared to the going domestic rates, it accounts for already about 24,500 MW, over 12% of the installed base, and for another around 42,000 MW under construction.Some stations with Chinese units have indicated some major problems like high Turbine vibrations and turbine blade failures/damage, failure of HT motors, failure of BFP Cartridge & Mechanical seal leakages, milling problems etc. Some stations with BHEL units have reported failure of Generator transformers, high turbine vibrations etc.Now to have a clear picture of the differences in the Indian and Chinese equipments lets go into the technical details of each. The Design Turbine Cycle Heat Rate (THR) for Chinese 300 MW units is around 1910 kcal/kWh as compared to around 1945 kcal/kWh for BHEL 250 MW units. However, the Design Heat rate for Chinese units do not correlate well with the steam flows indicated and large variations in design steam flows are seen for similar indicated design THR. The Design THR of Chinese 600 MW machines is 1954 kcal/kWh for two stations and 1945 kcal/kWh for one station. However, the Design Heat rates for Chinese machines do not correlate well with the steam flows indicated. The Design THR of BHEL 500 MW machines is around 1944 kcal/kWh for normal reheat temperature and 1932-1936 kcal/kWh for higher Reheat temperature (565 deg C) machines. Thus the Turbine cycle heat rate of BHEL machines is better than the Chinese 600 MW machines - by about 10 kcal/kWh for BHEL normal reheat temperature machines and 22 kcal/kWh for higher reheat temperature machines. However, the regenerative system configuration of Chinese machines is different from BHEL machines and Chinese 300 MW units have higher steam Pressure also. Thus on like to like comparison basis the BHEL machines indicate higher cylinder efficiency implying that their design/construction in terms of blading provided, sealing etc. renders higher efficiency Amongst the Chinese 600 MW and BHEL 500 MW turbine generators, only the BHEL machines with higher Reheat temperature of 565 deg C comply with the minimum efficiency criteria (maximum THR of 1935 kcal/kWh) prescribed in the CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations - 2010. The anomalies/discrepancies in the design Turbine Cycle Heat Rate, Steam flows design margins of Chinese machines is indicative of lack of due diligence by the suppliers and utilities/generating companies on the above aspects - some of them being mandatory as laid down in the CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations - 2010. It is thus suggested that the generating companies while making Tariff Application to CERC/SERC may be asked to furnish details key design/efficiency parameters with an undertaking certifying compliance to "CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations 2010". It is suggested that a formal advice to the above effect may be issued to Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. The Design boiler efficiency for BHEL units and Chinese units designed for indigenous coal is of the same order. However overall variability of design boiler efficiency amongst stations is higher for Chinese units. Also, apart from the design boiler efficiency, the operating efficiency with coal quality variations within or outside the design coal quality range is important. However such feedback would be available only after sustained operation of stations with different quality coals. Both, the Chinese 300 & 600 MW and BHEL 250 & 500 MW units have adequate flow margins - VWO and BMCR margins. However the Chinese 330 MW machines have a composite TMCR to BMCR margin of 5.34 % which is very low and does not appear to be compliant to the CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations - 2010 and the provision of instantaneously load picking of the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC). Chinese units based on indigenous coal show a much lower Operating Load Factor (OLF) than the Chinese units based on imported coal. The overall average OLF for Chinese stations based on imported coal works out to 80.4 % while for Chinese stations based on indigenous coal it works out to be 57.2 % against 71.6 % for BHEL units. Thus the Operating Load Factor of BHEL units with indigenous coal have been higher than Chinese units based on indigenous coal. Total outages for Chinese units based on indigenous/domestic coal are higher than the Chinese units based on imported coal and BHEL units. The overall average of total outages for Chinese units based on indigenous coal is 23.5% while it is 14.1 % for Chinese units with imported coal and 18.7 % for BHEL stations. Excluding stations with very high outages, the total outages are 17.4 %, 7.6 % and 12.6 % respectively for Chinese indigenous coal, Chinese imported coal and BHEL units. The Operating Heat Rate (OHR) of Chinese indigenous coal based units is considerably higher than BHEL units and Chinese units based on indigenous coal. The overall Operating Heat Rate is 2719 kcal/kWh for Chinese indigenous coal based units and 2520 kcal/kWh for BHEL indigenous coal based units''. Also the Chinese units indicate higher operating deviation from design heat rate Vis-a-vis BHEL units. The OHR for Chinese imported coal based units is 2275 kcal/kWh and the difference vis a vis Chinese indigenous coal is considerably larger than could be accounted for the higher boiler efficiency (due to better coal quality) thereby implying that units with imported coal have been performing better than indigenous coal based units. Large number of BHEL stations have shown very low Operating Heat Rate with deviation from Design Heat Rate (DHR) of 2-5 % while most Chinese units with indigenous coal have shown much higher Operating Heat Rate - with deviation from DHR of around 10-12 %. The operating deviation for Chinese units based on indigenous coal is much lower than Chinese indigenous coal based units. The BHEL units show remarkably better performance with respect to Secondary Fuel oil consumption as compared to Chinese units based on indigenous coal. The overall SFC for Chinese units with indigenous coal is 6.13 ml/kWh and for BHEL indigenous coal based units'' 3.06 ml/kWh. The overall SFC for Chinese units based on imported coal is 1.34 ml/kWh.The level of automation in Chinese turbines is much less than the BHEL turbines. The Chinese turbines do not have many safety and analysis/diagnostic functions such as Turbine Stress Evaluator (TSE) and Auto Turbine Run-up Systems (ATRS) in their control system. Thus, lot of manual interventions are envisaged during start up as well as during normal operation of Chinese machine contrary to philosophy of fully automated system with minimum manual intervention in BHEL machines. Manual intervention during critical operations gives rise to subjectivity with the possibility of mal-operation and accidents

Chinese Units Commissioned and Under Construction in IndiaSectorCommissioned XI PlanCommissioned XII PlanUnder Construction

No. of UnitsTotal capacityNo. of UnitsTotal capacityNo. of UnitsTotal capacity

Central000021200

State72700160021200

Private46154871956757939440

Total53181872062758341840

Major Suppliers of Chineses Boileres and TGSupplier

Dongfang China

SEC China

Babcock Wilcox China

Beijing Beizhong STG China

Harbin China

BHEL

Comparison of the RivalsParameterChinese unitsBHEL units

Design Turbine Cycle Heat Rate (kcal/kWh)1910 (300 MW)1945 (250 MW)

1954 (600 MW)1945/1936* (500 MW)

Design Boiler efficiency (%)85-87 (Domestic coal)88-89 (Imported coal)85-89 (Domestic coal)

Flow Margins (%) TMCR-BMCR300 MW-10-11%600 MW-8-10%330 MW-5.34%8-10 for both 250 and 500 MW units

Average Operating Load Factor (%)57.2 (Domestic coal)80.4 (Imported coal)71.6 Domestic coal

Total Outages (% of operating hours)23.50 (Domestic coal)14.10 (Imported coal)18.70 Domestic coal

Number of Outages per 1000 operating hours (nos)03.21 (Domestic coal)03.93 (Imported coal))03.22 Domestic coal

Operating Heat Rate (OHR) (kcal/kWh)2719 (Domestic coal)2275 (Imported coal)2520 Domestic coal

Secondary Fuel Oil Consumption (ml/kWh)06.13 (Domestic coal)01.34 (Imported coal)03.06 Domestic coal

Note: * 1932-1936 With high reheat temperature of 565 deg C

The above facts speak that the control systems of Chinese turbines seem to be not in line with the prevailing modern turbine design/technology. In this view in July 2012, the government had slapped 21 per cent import duty on power equipment. The Cabinet, last year, had approved 5 per cent basic customs duty, 12 per cent counter-veiling duty and 4 per cent special additional duty on import of power gear. As domestic industry has enough capacity to provide after-sales services, the Chinese firms have already captured as much as 40% of the domestic market where an opportunity of annual sales of 17,000 Mw capacity exists at present. India has a current domestic equipment manufacturing capacity of 27,000 Mw. Power equipment worth Rs 130,000 crore was sold in India last financial year. Around 28% of this comprised generation equipment while the rest 72% of the sales occurred in the transmission and distribution sector.

At times it sounds necessary for India to look for import of Chinese Equipment in order to meet its projected capacity additions which is also very vital for the country be to be more energy secured. The Indian government's support to the domestic manufacturers as not been so encouraging with many manufacturers expressing a discomfort from the recent decisions taken by the govt. in respect to Chinese Equipment manufacturers. All these entail the Indian Govt. to provide a more competitive platform so as to balance both these markets.

Analysed outcome on Design and Performance of Chinese Equipment by CEA

Central Electricity Authority has done two studies on Design and Performance of Chinese Equipments. The two studies made were, the first one included Design Features of Boilers and Auxiliaries being sourced from Chinese Manufacturers in year 2008. The second one was to Analyze the performance of Chinese equipment vis-a-vis Indian equipment in year 2013 Details of Study on Design Features of Boilers and Auxiliaries from Chinese sources. The Study Covered 5 stations with 300/330 MW and 2 stations with 600 MW . units (All Sub-critical) 300/330 MW Units - Yamunanagar- HPGCL, Durgapur- DPL, Sagardighi- WBPDCL, Lanco-Amarkantak, Mundra-Adani Power. 600 MW Units- Lanco Anapara C, Hissar HPGCL. Only 3 Commissioned Stations - Yamunanagar, Durgapur & Sagardighi. Main Findings in this study. The technical particulars relating to major design features of boiler and their auxiliaries found to be in line with good engineering practices- any generic design issues could be best known after these units operate for an initial period of about one to two years. Initial 1-2 years of operation of any plant are critical and will bring out inherent generic deficiencies, if any. Operational feed back then available indicated milling Constraints in some units Secondary fuel oil consumption has been found to be high in all the three operational projects. Layout constraints Found in some of the plants which may result in difficulties in attending to the equipment during maintenance. Data Gaps- No information from Chinese manufacturers on design features, operational performance, Standards followed during manufacturing & testing procedures. Lack of Sufficient data with plant owners. Some of the utilities did not have complete information about important technical particulars -During interaction with the project authorities of the three operating stations, it has emergedthat there has been substantial lack of participation by the utilities in the areas of technical specifications, detailed engineering, quality inspection at works, erection supervision, training of O&M personnel, etc. Important equipment drawings/ technical data/ documents were not available with the projects. Design data was also not available with some IPPs sourcing the equipment from Chinese manufacturers. Recommendations -Need for due diligence Due diligence required by the utilities during stage of specification finalization and detailed engineering, inspections/testing etc. to minimize O&M problems Detailed comprehensive quality plans for ensuring quality at works and at site identifying customer hold points and test procedures and Standards needs to be defined and implemented for each major equipment/system. Some of the utilities were found lacking in this regard

Details of study to Analyse the performance of Chinese equipment vis-a-vis India Equipment. A study to Analyse the performance of Chinese equipment vis-a-vis Indian equipment was taken up by CEA in 2011 - through a Committee of CEA and NTPC. The Objective of the study was to analyse the performance of Chinese equipment vis-avis Indian equipment (BHEL) including coal consumption patterns, heat rate and efficiency achieved. Areas Covered Operating Load Factor (OLF), Outages/Downtime Design Parameters- Turbine cycle Heat rate & Boiler Efficiency Flow Margins Operating Efficiency - Heat Rate and Specific Fuel Oil Consumption Problems in Erection & Commissioning Units Considered in Study 2 The Study covered Chinese Subcritical units of 300 and 600 MW and BHEL Sub-critical units of 250 and 500 MW units commissioned in 11th Plan (2007-08 to 2010-11) Chinese capacity covered - 8200 MW 22 Units across 11 stations BHEL capacity Covered -12480 MW 36 Units across 22 StationsChinese Make Units.Indigenous (BHEL) Units

Unit SizeUnitsStationsUnit SizeUnitsStations

300 MW137250 MW2212

330 MW41500 MW1410

600 MW53

Study-2: Details of Manufacturers Manufacturers Wise Break up of Capacity SupplierBoiler SuppliedTG Supplied

Nos.CapacityNos.Capacity

Dongfang China6210083300

SEC China103600103600

Babcock Wilcox China4132000

Beijing Beizhong STG China004!320

Harbin China2120000

BHEL India36124803612480

Thus Most Chinese Supplies from Dongfang and Shanghai (SEC). Main Finding -Steam Parameters & Heat Rate

Steam parameters and Design Turbine cycle heat rateS. NoStations /Unit SizeMS PressureTemperature MST/RHTTurbine cycle heat rateRemarks

1Chinese 300 MW units1701537/5371910The Design Heat rate for Chinese units do not correlate well with the steam flows indicated and large variations in design steam flows are seen for similar

2Chinese 600 MW units170537/5371954

3BHEL 250 MW Units150537/5371945

4BHEL 500 MW Units170537/537 537/5651945 1936

The regenerative system configuration of Chinese machines is different from BHEL machines and Chinese 300 MW units have higher steam Pressure also. Thus on like to like comparison basis the BHEL machines indicate higher cylinder efficiency implying that their design/construction in terms of blading provided, sealing etc. renders higher efficiencyExpected THR of BHEL machine with similar configuration - 1890 (250 MW) and 1932/1920 (500 MW) Main Findings -Flow MarginsBoth, the Chinese 300 & 600 MW and BHEL 250 & 500 MW units have adequate flow margins - VWO and BMCR margins.However the Chinese 330 MW machines have a composite TMCR to BMCR margin of 5.34 % which is very low and not compliant to the CEA Technical Standardsand may not meet IEGC provisions. Main Findings -Outages and Load FactorsOperating Load factors and OutagesS. NoStationsOperating Load Factor (%)Total Outages (%)Remarks

1Chinese units -Domestic Coal51223.5Chinese units based on domestic coal have higher outages and lower load factors than imported coal based units as well as BHEL units

2Chinese units -Imported Coal80.414.1

3BHEL Units Domestic Coal71.618.7

CEA Monitoring DataPLF - 2011-12 (units in Study) - Chinese (D) -66.19, (I) 75.46, BHEL- 76.68PLF - 2012-13 (units in Study) - Chinese (D) -52.27, (I) 81.57, BHEL- 78.13 Main Findings -Operating Heat RateS. NoStationsOperations Heat RateRemarks

kcal/kWhDev. from Design (%)

1Chinese units Domestic Coal271923.29Chinese units based on domestic coal. Have higher Operating Heat Rate than Chinese imported coal based units as well as BHEL units.

2Chinese units Imported Coal22754.71

3BHEL Units Domestic Coal252012.77

Chinese imported coal based units show much lower heat rate than indigenous coal based units - the difference is far higher than envisaged due to the boiler efficiency difference.Variations in Operating Heat Rate of BHEL units are seen. Six stations show operating deviation (below 5%, four stations show deviation of around 10-11 %. Rest of the stations show very high deviations of 15-25 % and even higher.Chinese indigenous coal based units generally show high operating deviations. Main Finding -Specific Secondary Fuel Oil Consumption (SFC)S. NoStationsSFCRemarks

1Chinese units Domestic Coal6.13BHEL Units show remarkably better SFC than Chinese indigenous coal based units

2Chinese units Imported Coal1.34

3BHEL Units Domestic Coal3.06

SFC for Chinese imported coal based stations is considerably lower than indigenous coal based stations. Indigenous - 2.5 to 5 ml/kWh. Best Yearly values Indigenous- 0.90, Imported- 0.53.Large number of BHEL supplied stations show very low SFC of below one ml/kWh. The lowest overall (2007-11) SFC is 0.27 ml/kWh followed by 0.47, 0.52, 0.54 and 0.81 ml/kWh.The yearly SFC for individual BHEL stations are even lower. The best yearly SFC is 0.16 ml/kWh followed by several instances of yearly SFCs in the range of 0.20 to 0.50 ml/kWh. Station Visits Visits to Stations BHEL stations - Generally satisfied Chinese Stations - Mixed Bag. Widely different feedback from two stations visited.

Main Finding -Turbine Control Systems The level of automation in Chinese turbines is much less than the BHEL turbines The Chinese turbines do not have many analysis/diagnostic functions and equipment safety features such as Turbine Stress Evaluator (TSE) and Auto Turbine Run-up Systems (ATRS) in their control system. Thus, lot of manual interventions are envisaged during start up as well as during normal operation of Chinese machine contrary to philosophy of fully automated system with minimum manual intervention in BHEL machines. Thus the control systems of Chinese turbines are not in line with the prevailing modern turbine design/technology. Manual intervention during critical operations gives rise to subjectivity with the possibility of mal-operation and accidents.