State-owned power equipment maker BHEL has bagged two renovation and modernisation (R&M) orders of hydropower plants worth Rs 430 crore, including one from NHPC.

“BHEL has secured R&M contracts of hydro electric plants (HEPs). The company has won orders worth around Rs 430 crore for R&M of 6x60 MW Balimela HEP of Odisha Hydro Power Corp Ltd (OHPC) and 3x60 MW Bairasiul HEP of National NHPC Ltd,” the company said in a statement.

According to a statement, the units at both Balimela and Bairasiul have been in operation for over 35 years and the R&M of these units will result in restoration of output capacity, improvement in efficiency and reduction in auxiliary power consumption, in addition to leading to better plant availability.

BHEL’s scope of work for the job orders envisages design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, dismantling, setting up, testing and commissioning of critical parts of turbines, generators, governors, controls and instrumentation, protection and balance of plant (BoP).

Major equipment for these contracts will be manufactured and supplied by BHEL’s plants in Bhopal, Jhansi and Bengaluru.

The normal life expectancy of an HEP is considered to be 30-35 years.

In the current scenario of resource constraints, renovation and modernisation of existing HEPs is considered as the best option as this is cost-effective and requires much lesser time than setting up of greenfield projects.

BHEL’s footprint in hydropower accounts for 23 GW of hydro sets commissioned and 6 GW of hydro sets under execution in India and abroad.

These sets, aggregating more than 500 at 200 different power stations in India and abroad, are delivering customised solutions in the most challenging of terrains — from the Himalayas in India and Bhutan to faraway lands of New Zealand, South-East Asian countries and Africa.

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