Bharat Heavy Electricals ltd (BHEL) has commissioned the first lignite-based 500 MW thermal unit of the 2x500 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project in Tamil Nadu.

This is not only the country’s first lignite-fired 500 MW power plant, but also its highest rated pulverised lignite-fired thermal unit commissioned so far.

The plant is based on the Once-Through and Tower Type Boiler design, which has been adopted for the first time in the country for a lignite-based thermal unit, BHEL informed the BSE.

Located in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district, the project is owned by NLC India Ltd. The second unit of the project is also in an advanced stage of commissioning.

NLC had placed the order for a Boiler, Turbine & Generator (BTG) package for the two units with BHEL.

BHEL’s scope of work envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, testing and commissioning, along with the associated civil works of BTG, and associated auxiliaries and electricals, besides Controls & Instrumentation (C&I) and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs).

Equipment for the project has been manufactured by BHEL at its Haridwar, Tiruchi, Hyderabad, Ranipet, Bhopal and Bengaluru works, while the construction of the plant was undertaken by the company's Power Sector - Southern Region, Chennai.

In the past, BHEL has successfully delivered higher rated units of 600 MW, 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW thermal sets with a high degree of indigenisation.

Its strength of an installed base of over 1,85,000 MW of power plant equipment globally, coupled with its vast experience with Indian coal and conditions, makes it an ideal choice of utilities in the country, said the company in the release.

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