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Power Sector: Witnessing admirable improvements across entire value chain

Power Sector: Witnessing admirable improvements across entire value chain

Like any emerging country, India too cannot overlook the pivotal role of the power sector in fuelling its overall development. All other sectors require a constant and reliable supply of electricity for the economy to function and grow. The power sector in India has witnessed admirable improvements over the last few years across the entire value chain. The Government’s initiatives and policies have turned over a new leaf and a world of good has come from these initiatives. The challenge however remains to create a reliable and sustained power generation and distribution mechanism in the country so that adequate, affordable and consistent electricity supply can be made available to all. 
 
Revival of Power sector to meet the government initiatives “ Power-For-All”
To achieve this, Government of India has successfully implemented various initiatives such as adopting advanced technologies for power generation, bulk tendering of power projects to rapidly augment the generation capacity and supporting world renowned power equipment manufacturers to establish their facilities in India. Various schemes have been introduced to boost Power generation in India and also create an optimal mix of conventional and renewable energy sources. However, one of the biggest hurdles in the way of realising India’s energy security is the last mile connectivity due to lack of an efficient and reliable transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure, especially with the disparity in the flow of renewable energy, that calls for massive overhaul of the grid infrastructure.
 
The revival of power sector especially the Power from Coal fired power plants supports the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative and several manufacturing units were established in India. India must also focus on revamping and improving the existing power capacity in order to boost their efficiency. Efficiency can be measured at three levels -- economic, operational and energy efficiency. The efficiency levels can vary based on different types of thermal power plants. Setting up new power plants with supercritical and ultra-supercritical technology, instead of sub-critical technology, can help increase the efficiency of the thermal power plant from the earlier 36% to 42%. These plants should be designed to utilize imported technologies that are domestically manufactured. Secondly, of the total electricity produced by the plant, in many cases, the auxiliary power consumption of the plant is still more than 10%. One of the ways to improve the efficiency of an existing thermal power plant can be by reducing this consumption by installing latest technology and infrastructure. Thirdly, the maintenance time and volume needs to be cut down.
 
While planning to set-up a power plant in India and evaluating the necessary technology and equipment suppliers, it is of utmost importance to reach a fine balance between the initial cost and long-term durability of the plant. It has been observed that there are companies which go for lower initial investment to break-even sooner but in the longer run, partnering with a reliable and established power equipment manufacturer can result in initial high investment but it would eventually even out in the longer run due to its durability and stability. India’s energy landscape requires a complete Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement, Construction and Services (EMPCS) solutions for power plants under one roof. This will not only brings down the turnaround time, but also ensure complete compatibility of all systems operating within a grid.
 
Toshiba Energy Solutions to support Power Demand
In line with ‘FOR THE NEXT INDIA’ strategy, Toshiba established India as its global manufacturing base and an export hub. Toshiba set up a manufacturing facility in Chennai to produce and market super-critical steam turbines and generators for thermal power plants in India, under the name – Toshiba JSW Power Systems (TJPS). Spread over an area of close to 3,60,000 sq meters, TJPS factory is the Group’s only thermal power plant manufacturing facility outside of Japan. The current installed capacity of the facility is 3000MW and it houses world’s largest turbine balancing tunnel. Today, TJPS offers from manufacturing to one-stop solution for EMPCS of thermal power plants.
 
High quality power generation requires an efficient T&D network. Identifying a huge potential in this sector, we established Toshiba Transmission and Distribution Systems (India) (TTDI) in Hyderabad in 2013 and established new manufacturing line for production of switchgears in 2016 to meet growing demand in India and globally. The manufacturing facility at Rudraram in Telangana has now become the state-of-art global manufacturing hub of the parent company. Today, TTDI is a leader in Distribution Transformer segment in India and offers a wide product portfolio of T&D equipment, from Transformers, Vacuum circuit breakers, Compact substations, Solid Insulated Switchgear (SIS), Gas Circuit Breakers (GCB), Disconnecter Switches to Gas Insulated Switchgears (GIS) ranging from low voltage 11kV to extra high voltage upto 765kV. 
 
Like all developed nations, India too needs to create a methodological scientific framework to arrive at realistic integrated solutions to complex energy problems, by adopting a holistic systems-based approach, especially at the decision making and planning stage for the creation of a resilient society. We at Toshiba, stand committed for the development of Power and Infrastructure sectors through our Japanese technology and expertise, and to contribute to the growth of industries FOR THE NEXT INDIA.
 
 
By  Tomohiko Okada, Managing Director, Toshiba India 
 



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