GE, BHEL sign contract for Indian turbine manufacture
According to GE Steam Power, it will supply BHEL with "the design and manufacturing of three nuclear steam turbines" from its facility in Sanand, India. The turbines will be used at Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd's (NPCIL) Gorakhpur and Kaiga nuclear power plants.
NPCIL plans to build a total of four 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor units, in two phases, at Gorakhpur in Haryana, as well as two at Kaiga in Karnataka. These are part of a domestic programme to build a total of twelve such units.
BHEL and GE signed the necessary agreements in 2018 to allow the manufacture of nuclear steam turbines of 700 MW, GE said. Manufacturing the turbines at Sanand, in Gujarat, will support the Indian government's self-reliance Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
"Nuclear energy is a critical and one of the most dependable sources of carbon-free power providing round-the-clock energy supply without interruption," Frédéric Wiscart, GE Steam Power's nuclear new build leader, said. "With our facility in Sanand, we have local manufacturing capability deliver on the nuclear aspirations of India domestic programme."
GE Steam Power has also supplied nuclear steam turbines in consortium with BHEL for ongoing NPCIL projects at the Kakrapar and Rawatbhatha (also known as Rajasthan) nuclear power plants.
