New Delhi: TÜV SÜD, the German testing, inspection and certification company and Central Bureau of Irrigation and Power (CBIP) jointly hosted the India edition for this year’s ‘Safe Future Now’ series of global summits. The summit focused on ‘Optimising performance of Thermal Power Plants for a sustainable and safe future’ addressed an audience comprising government, regulatory and industry representatives on improving the efficiency, performance and reliability of new and existing thermal power plants in India.

The inaugural function witnessed the presence of Chief Guest Mr. MVK Rama Rao, Managing Director of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) stated that majority power plants being coal fired in India and recent data suggesting that quite a few are nearing the end of their lifecycles, there is an urgent need for renovation and modernisation in order to optimise power generation efficiency, adopt best technology and improve environmental impacts to ensure a more viable and sustainable future.

The day long summit saw key stakeholders of power sector coming together and exchanging ideas to improve efficiency, reliability of power plants and increase availability of power. The panel discussions were moderated by noted economic policy expert and renowned news anchor, Siddharth Zarabi.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Niranjan Nadkarni, CEO, TÜV SÜD South Asia stated, “Renovation and modernisation of thermal power plants in India is the need of the hour considering the increasing gap between power demand and supply. It is very promising to see the optimistic response of various experts and dignitaries from the industry for a collective approach towards enhancing the efficiency and performance of power plants in India.”

The opening panel dedicated towards enhancing the overall performance of the power plants in India, discussed and exchanged global experiences, local challenges and regulatory environment requisite to meet the power requirement of the country and highlighted key challenges faced by the industry.

The panel concluded on a unified note that renovation and modernisation is a pressing need for India’s thermal power plants. However, it is imperative that within the renovation and modernisation process the plans and solutions be custom designed for each plant’s upgradation as each of them face distinct operational impediments.

The opening panel was followed by technical presentations on optimising performance by Mr. Bratin Roy, VP. Industry services, TÜV SÜD South Asia, Performance measurement by Mr. Florian Michl, Senior Performance Engineer, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH and overview on R&M by Mr. V. Ramesh, Additional General Manager, Renovation and Modernisation (R&M) – Engg, NTPC Limited.

The summit concluded with a panel discussion focused on ‘Learnings from the past and preparedness of the Indian conventional power plant industry to address the future challenges and opportunities’ that highlighted the investor sentiments with reference to the upgradation of existing power infrastructure and their financing.

The panel concluded emphasizing the need for a more conducive regulatory framework for the sector to attract large scale investments in the sector.

Key panelists and speakers at the event included Dr. Axel Stepken, Chairman of the Board of Management, TÜV SÜD AG, Mr. T.S.G. Narayannen, Technical Advisor (Boiler) & Secretary, Central Boiler Board, Mr. KK Shah, Chief Additional Engineer (P&P), Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited, Mr. S.C. Jain, Director, Haryana Power Generation Corporation, Mr. KK Sharma, CEO, NTPC-SAIL Power Co. Pvt. Ltd. & Executive Director Operations , NTPC , Dr. Boris Gehring, Chief Executive Officer, TÜV SÜD Industry Service Division, Mr. S. V. Prasad, V P, Infrastructure, SBI Caps, Mr. Unni Gopalakrishnan, Head – Operations Management, The Tata Power Company Limited,  Mr. PK Sinha, General Manager (Projects) and State In-Charge (Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar & Jharkhand), PFC and Mr. Sarajit Sen, Managing Director, Doosan Power Services.

Source : Lokesh Shastri