TOP PLANTS

Dahanu Thermal Power Station,

Dahanu Taluka, India
Owner/operator: Reliance Energy Ltd.
Although this nine-year-old, 500-MW power plant is coal-fired, it consistently
ranks among the cleanest—as well as the most reliable—generating sta-
tions in India. In a developing country where air pollution is worsening,
the Dahanu Thermal Power Station disproves the notion that energy pro-
duction and environmental protection are mutually exclusive.
By Ken Wicker

ision, skill, and determination have 2004. Since it went on-line in 1995, Plant layout

V made Anil Ambani—chairman of

Mumbai-based Reliance Energy
Ltd.—a very successful man. With assets of
$2.3 billion and annual revenues of $1.8 bil-
lion, his company has long been a force in
India’s electric power sector. Reliance owns
885 MW worth of power plants in the states
of Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and
Kerala, as well as power distributors serving
25 million customers in Mumbai (formerly
Bombay), New Delhi, and Orissa.
Among Reliance’s generating assets
are two conventional combined-cycle
plants totaling 385 MW, another one of
48 MW powered by naphtha, and a 7.6-
MW wind farm. But it is the company’s
500-MW coal-fired Dahanu Thermal
Power Station—located 75 miles from
Mumbai on India’s west coast—that
POWER is recognizing as a Top Plant of
Dahanu (Figure 1) has earned a reputation
for being one of the most reliable, effi-
cient, and clean power plants in India.
Statistics validate that reputation. The
most recent annual rating of Indian plants
(see table) finds Dahanu at the top of four
categories: load factor, heat rate, fewest
trips, and fewest unplanned outages.
According to Ambani, Dahanu has been
successful because, “As the flagship station
of Reliance’s fleet, it showcases our efforts
to generate power reliably, cleanly, and
cost-effectively, without compromising the
health of our neighbors or the safety of our
workers.” At Reliance, he explains, “The
drive to succeed starts at the top—with
me—and works its way down through the
corporate structure. That relentless pursuit
of excellence has helped make Dahanu a
trend-setter in the Indian power industry.”
Indeed, Dahanu showcases a number of
state-of-the-art technologies, some rarely
seen elsewhere in India:
■ A digital distributed control and manage-
ment information system from Zurich-
based Asea Brown Boveri Inc. (ABB).
■ An electrohydraulic-converter turbine
governing system designed by Munich-
based Siemens and manufactured by New
Delhi–based Bharat Heavy Electricals
Ltd. (BHEL).
■ An electrostatic precipitator and low-NOx
burner management system from BHEL.
■ Several concrete volute cooling water
circulating pumps designed by Bergeron
Rateau (Olympides, France) and manu-
factured by Kirloskar Brothers Ltd.
(Pune, India).
■ A stack and ambient air SO x /NO x -
monitoring system from St. Louis–based
Emerson Process Management.
■ An optical ground wire (OPGW) from
Toronto-based Phillips-Fitel Inc. that
gives Dahanu broadband Internet access.

Dahanu’s boiler, from BHEL, is a sin-

gle-drum, natural-circulation, radiant heat
and balanced-draft unit with tilting tangen-
tial burners. Its firing equipment includes
high-energy arc igniters, air-cooled oil
guns, low-NO x burners, and an infrared
remote flame monitoring system.
The plant’s twin Siemens KWU steam
turbines (each rated at 250 MW) are three-
pressure, condensing, tandem-compound,
single-shaft machines with reheat. Their
high-pressure turbine is single-cylinder
while the low-pressure turbine has a double-
flow cylinder. The generators driven by the
steam turbines are two-pole and were
1. Live long and prosper. India’s 500-MW Dahanu Thermal Power Station isn’t new, designed by Siemens and manufactured by
but POWER is nonetheless honoring it for its track record of operations and environmental
BHEL. Their rotor and stator windings are
excellence. Courtesy: Reliance Energy Ltd.
hydrogen-cooled by units within the genera-

46 www.powermag.platts.com POWER | July/August 2004

 TOP PLANTS
Dahanu’s eight-year track record
Fiscal Load factor Availability Heat rate Trips Unplanned
year (%) factor (%) (Btu/kWh) per 1,000 hours outages
1996–97 73.19 80.25 9,412 3.2714 60
1997–98 85.00 90.49 9,270 1.8293 32
1998–99 76.55 92.24 9,274 1.2376 25
1999–00 88.68 98.42 9,178 0.2892 9 let operators know how much pollution is
2000–01 82.68 92.33 9,178 1.2982 24
2001–02 87.83 93.02 9,206 0.2455 7 quality over a larger area.
2002–03 90.53 91.03 9,175 0.6270 16
2003–04 100.34a 96.84 8,988a 0.1170a 4a
Note: a. Best in India
Source: Reliance Energy Ltd.
tors’ frames, which are pressure-resistant, the area—but that’s not the case. According
gas-tight, and equipped with end shields. to Majumdar, it is consistently one of the
Power leaves Dahanu on nine 220-kV lines. least polluting coal-fired power plants in
Dahanu was the first power plant in the country.
India to adopt the ISO 9001 quality man- The O&M systems also play a big part
agement system and ISO 14001 environ- in keeping Dahanu profitable. All competi-
mental management system. Has following tive markets, including India’s, reward the
best practices made a difference? Take lowest-cost generators. In an effort to mini-
another look at the table; the plant’s key mize Dahanu’s generating costs, Reliance
operating statistics typically have improved has put all of its business processes—
year after year. Sophisticated equipment is including the ones used to manage money
partially responsible for Dahanu’s world- and manpower—under the umbrella of an
class performance. But so is plant manage- enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
ment’s systemic approach to operations and Supplied by Ramco Systems Ltd. (Chennai,
maintenance—the domain of Prabir K. India), the ERP system integrates the
Majumdar, Dahanu’s deputy general man- plant’s O&M and materials-management
ager of O&M (Figure 2). systems while providing links to human
resources, purchasing, financials, and con-
It’s the systems, Sahib tract-management applications and data.
According to Majumdar, Dahanu’s man- Dahanu is the first Indian power plant to
agement has always used modern power use such a system. Majumdar says it has
station O&M practices to keep the plant helped managers implement best practices
running reliably and efficiently. “To and departments operate more uniformly.
achieve those goals,” he says, “we use
automation wherever possible and insist Emissions and safety
that all procedures be strictly followed.” At management
Dahanu, there are automated systems for: Dahanu’s environmental management sys-
tem helps keep the plant’s airborne emis-
■ Operations management and performance sions within the prescribed limits of
monitoring Maharashtra’s Pollution Control Board
■ Condition-based maintenance management and India’s National Ambient Air Quality
■ Comprehensive fuel management Standards. Says Majumdar, “Our emis-
■ Quality management sions levels are also well below World
■ Safety management Bank limits. But we’re constantly striving
■ Environmental management to lower them even further.”
■ Spares management Over the past seven years, Reliance and
the Dahanu plant have won eight awards for
The plant’s fuel-management system—a environmental performance. The two most
first in India—precisely controls the blend- prestigious were the Millennium Business
ing of low-ash, low-sulfur Indian and Award for Environmental Achievement—
Indonesian coals. It even oversees a coal- given to the plant in 2000 by the United
washing facility at the Indian mine where Nations and the International Chamber of
80% of the plant’s fuel comes from. Burn- Commerce—and a 1999 Environment Per-
ing 2.1 million tons of coal annually, formance Award from the Indian Council of
Dahanu could easily be a major polluter in Power Utilities.
48
One reason Dahanu has been able to
operate so cleanly is its single stack; from a
height of 900 feet, it disperses emissions
over a wide area. Another is the plant’s elec-
trostatic precipitator (Figure 3), which col-
lects 99.9% of flyash and particulates. Yet
another reason is constant monitoring of
emissions. Four ambient air quality stations
escaping the plant’s emissions-reduction
systems. Reliance uses a van to monitor air
Dahanu also has excellent health and
safety records and is an active member of
the National Safety Council of India.
Majumdar says internal and external safety
audits are conducted on a regular basis. The
plant holds the Indian record for the longest
accident-free period—1,267 days—and
won a National Safety Award in 2001 in
recognition of its safety performance. It is
equipped with a closed-circuit TV system
and a state-of-the-art fire protection system
with the latest in safety controls.
A well-trained, satisfied staff
Like most businesses in India, Dahanu has
a large staff. In addition to its 188 execu-
tives, the plant has 308 nonexecutive
employees. Typically, about 250 contract
laborers also can be found working there at
any time.
Majumdar manages some very skilled
people. All of his engineers are graduates
of reputable universities and have at least
one year of in-house O&M training under
their belt. The training program includes
time in the classroom, on-the-job training,
work on a simulator, and a visit to the man-
ufacturing facilities of one of the plant’s
equipment suppliers. The Central Electrici-
ty Authority of India has accredited
Dahanu’s training center as a Class-I Insti-
tute for Power Plant Engineers.
It was Majumdar’s idea to make the sim-
ulator sessions part of the training program,
2. Taskmaster. Prabir K. Majumdar,
Dahanu’s deputy general manager of O&M,
in the central control room. Courtesy:
Reliance Energy Ltd.
POWER | July/August 2004
 TOP PLANTS
3. Air cleaner. Dahanu’s electrostatic precipitator, from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., is
99.9% efficient. Courtesy: Reliance Energy Ltd.
to make his engineers more familiar with all
of the plant’s many sophisticated systems.
Majumdar is also a big fan of cross-training,
which is an alien concept in developing
nations. Elsewhere, O&M types typically
50
are trained to do just a few tasks and do
them well. But Majumdar believes that vari-
ety in a daily regime makes a job interesting
and helps ensure that top personnel stick
around. In his department, there is little
turnover. Another reason employees are
loyal is their fondness for the plant’s cricket
stadium, library, swimming pool, and gym-
nasium—all provided by Reliance.
Good neighbor policy
Management of the Dahanu plant takes its
corporate responsibility seriously. Reliance
supports various community initiatives and
social activities in and around Dahanu
Taluka, a predominantly rural area where
the main occupations are fishing and farm-
ing. Several of the programs that Reliance
pays for or subsidizes enable or help local
children to get an education. The plant also
has funded the construction of schools and
sea walls and the maintenance of local
dams.
To date, Dahanu has spent about
$550,000 on various community develop-
ment activities and Majumdar is proud of
that figure. However, he’s unwilling to
let the plant rest on its laurels. “We’re
constantly looking for ways to help the
community. Recently, for example, we
modernized the local train station. That
kind of behavior does not go unnoticed
by the community. They are very appre-
ciative of our philanthropy.” ■
POWER | July/August 2004