Development India
India Project Showcase
29.10.2009 | Author / Deskman: Marcel Dröttboom / Marcel Dröttboom
With a growth rate in gross domestic production of about six percent even in 2009 and significantly larger numbers in the years before, India is one of the fasted growing economies in the world.
This growth is reflected in the large number of world-class projects currently executed in the country, of which a selection of four is presented here.
Power: Ultra Mega Power Projects
In order to meet the capacity additions targets required to achieve the objective of ‘Power for All’ envisaged by the Indian Government for 2012, the Indian Ministry of Power launched an initiative for facilitating development of coal based Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP). These large projects with approximately 4000 MW each will be based on supercritical technology to achieve high fuel efficiency and low green-house gas emissions.
So far, nine such projects have been identified. The project at Mundra in Gujarat, Krishnapatnam in Andrah Pradesh, Tadri in Karnataka, Girye in Maharashtra, and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu will be of coastal type, using imported coal. The other four projects, Sasan in Madhya Pradesh, Tilaiya in Jharkhand, Sundergarth in Orissa, and Akaltara in Chhattisgarth will be of pithead type with dedicated captive coal blocks. For each project a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been set up by the Power Finance Corporation (PFC), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Power, to act as authorised representatives of the respective procurers.
On August 7, 2009, Reliance Power, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, announced that it had acquired Jharkand Integrated Power Ltd., the SPV formed to implement the Tilaya UMPP from PFC. The 4000 MW pithead project, involving a capital outlay of approximately INR 20 000 crores (approx. EUR 2.9 billion) is the third UMPP project won by Reliance Power, who have also succeeded in the bidding processes for the Sasan and the Krishanapatnam project.
Already on April 24, 2008, Tata Power announced the signing of financial agreements for the coastal Mundra project. At the time of signing, the costs of the project were estimated at approximately INR 17 000 crores (approx. EUR 2.7 billion). In addition to construction, operation and maintenance of the plant, this project also includes the development of a jetty, unloading and handling of the imported coal and transportation, as well as necessary infrastructure, including a sea-water intake pipeline and a disalination plant.
On October 30, 2009, the contract for the coal handling system for the power plant, worth around EUR 35 million, has been awarded to FLSmidth & Co. A/S, Denmark. The scope of the contract includes the complete coal handling system to convey coal from a jetty to a stockpile and from there to the power plant. The system has a 6800 tonnes per hour stockpiling capacity and 4500 tonnes per hour reclaiming capacity. Apart from one of the world’s largest bucket wheel stacker reclaimers, the system also includes a series of conveyors of high speed and high capacity. Distributed and critical control systems, emergency shutdown systems, process control, and other technology for the project will be provided by Invensys Operations Management, United Kingdom, who will also deliver end-to-end solutions from boiler management systems to turbine auxiliary control with interfaces for integration with other technology vendors.
Mining: Neyveli Lignite Operations
Among the largest bulk material handling operations in India are the open pit lignite mines operated by Neyveli Lignite Corp. (NLC). Currently, the company operates three lignite mines with an annual capacity of 24 million tonnes of lignite and three pithead thermal power plants with a total capacity of 2490 MW. Mine 1, situated in the northern part of a lignite field with a reserve of approximately 365 million tonnes, has an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes of lignite per year feed to two thermal power stations with 600 MW, respectively 420 MW. Mine 1 was the first Indian mine to use German excavation technology for opencast mining, using bucket wheel excavators, conveyors and spreaders. Mine II, which uses a similar mining method and equipment to Mine I, started operation in 1981 with a capacity of 4.7 million tonnes per year, which has been increased to 10.5 million tonnes today. With an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes of lignite, Mine IA, which started production in 2003, is smallest of the Neyveli mines.
Neyveli Lignite is currently carrying out four major projects, including expansion of Mine II capacity by 4.5 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes per year and construction of a coal based 10 000 MW power plant at Tuticorin with estimated costs of approximately INR 4909 crores (approx. EUR 700 million). The foundation stone for the project was laid at the end of February 2009 and commissioning is expected during 2012/13. In addition to the currently executed project, the company has also plans for a number of power plant and mining projects proposed to be taken up between 2009 and 2017. If all these projects would be completed, the annual mining capacity of NLC, including both coal and lignite, would be increased to 79 million tonnes and its power generation capacity would be raised to 14 700 MW.
To meet the goals in mining capacity increase, NLC has recently added some new equipment to its already impressive stock of machines. In 2005 the company awarded contracts for the design, manufacture, supply erection and commissioning of seven large machines to the Materials Handling business unit of Sandvik Mining and Construction, Sweden. The order included four bucket wheel excavators, three of them with a boom length of 34 meters and bucket volume of 1400 litres. The theoretical capacity of these machines is 5460 cubic meters per hour. The fourth bucket wheel excavator is a smaller machine with a bucket volume of 700 litres. The remaining three machines of the order are beltwagons, each with a capacity of 11 000 tonnes per hour. In mid 2009, Sandvik delivered the last piece of this order to NLC.
Steel: POSCO India’s Steelworks Project
South Korean steel maker Posco is planning to set up a green field integrated steelworks near Paradip, Orissa, with an estimated investment of USD 12 billion (approx. INR 52 000 crores). The 12 million tonnes per year steelworks will be completed in three phases of 4 million tonnes per year each, with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2011/12. According to Posco, the steelworks in Orissa will be the world’s first steel plant project to start with the Finex technology. Being an alternative to conventional blast furnace solutions, this environment-friendly technology was selected because of its lower operating costs and emissions, and because it dramatically reduces overall construction costs by eliminating the need for ore sintering and coal coking plants.
Besides the steelworks, the scope of the project also includes iron ore mine development from captive mines over 30 years to deliver the 20 million tonnes of iron ore needed for production and related infrastructure. During Phase-I of the project, railway sidings will be constructed on the plant side and the mining areas and link to the main railway line. The connections between the railway sidings and the plant/mining area will be either via roads or belt conveyors. To ensure consistent and timely movement of products and additional raw materials needed for the plant, a captive port will be developed at the mouth of the Jatadhari river for exclusive use by Posco.
Ports: Dhamra Port Development
The Dhamra Port Company Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture of Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel, has been awarded a concession by the Government of Orissa to build and operate a port north of the mouth of river Dhamra on a build, own, operate, share and transfer basis for a total period of 34 years including a four year construction period. Situated between Haldia and Paradeep, the port at Dhamra will be the deepest port of India with a draught of 18 meters, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 180 000 dwt. The master plan provides for 13 berths, capable of handling more than 83 million tonnes per year of dry bulk, liquid bulk, break bulk and containerized cargo.
During Phase-I, Dhamra Port Company is constructing two fully mechanized berths of 350 meters each along with backup facilities for handling imports of various bulk materials. The handling equipment to be installed during Phase-I includes three stacker/reclaimers, a ship loader and two ship unloaders, a wagon tippler and a rail loading facility. The company is also laying a 62 kilometres rail link from Dhamra to Bhadrak on the main Howrah-Chennai line. The estimated capacity of Phase-I is 25 million tonnes per year.
The company has achieved financial closure for Phase-I of the project in February 2007 with signing of a loan agreement with the consortium of lenders led by Industrial Development Bank of India. The construction of Phase-I commenced in March 2007 and the port is expected to start commercial operation by March 2010. The total costs of Phase-I are estimated at approximately IRN 2460 crores (approximately EUR 351 million). All facilities of the port will be constructed by Larsen & Toubro’s Engineering Construction & Contracts division and dredging will be carried out by International Dredging Seaport Co. Ltd., a joint venture between Larsen & Toubro and Dredging International from Belgium.
(Literature: “Ultra Mega Power Projects” Indian Ministry of Power, New Delhi; “India Yearbook 2007” Indian Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi 2007; “Annual Report 2008/2009: Directors Report” Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Neyveli 2009. Additional sources used for this article include press releases and presentations of the respective companies, as well as information from company websites.)
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