Power or electricity is one of the most critical components of infrastructure affecting economic growth and well being of nations.
The power sector provides one of the most important inputs for the development of a country and availability of reliable and inexpensive power is critical for its sustainable economic development. To sustain GDP growth rate of around 8-9 %, it is imperative that the power sector also grows at the same rate. Other than economic growth, human developmental aspects like poverty reduction, employment generation, etc. are also considerably dependent on secure energy supply. Power is one area of infrastructure where India lags far behind in comparison to other developing countries.
Power sector is a highly capital intensive business with long gestation periods before commencement of revenue streams (construction periods of 4-5 years) and an even longer operating period (over 25 years). Since most of the projects have such a long time frame, there are some inherent risks in both the internal and external environment. Over the years, there have been lot of technology evolutions in Power sector, mostly aiming to improve plant efficiencies, i.e., Heat rate and Auxiliary consumption. The heat rate varies from 1800 kcal/kwh to 3500 kcal/kwh and Auxiliary consumption varies from 6% to 15%, depending on the technology deployed and fuel used. As Power plants have huge water requirement, focus has also been on reducing water consumption. In current scenario, due to obsolete technology, Old plants are facing survival issues, whereas new Supercritical Technology based plants are offering cheaper power. Thermal Power plants account to 70% of power generation in India. These plants heavily depend on fuel flexibility (coal, lignite, petcoke, etc.) to optimize generation costs. Fuel prices vary drastically during the year (For e.g Petcoke varied from $38/T to $100/T). Fuel selection is a very important factor for operations viability and competitive success in Power business. Add to this, environmental agencies are imposing strict regulations on emission of greenhouse gases. All this calls for deep technical expertise and policy knowledge to operate Power plants in today’s cut throat competitive world.
BOE Consulting team consists of domain experts with rich experience in Power plant operations. They use their Techno – Commercial expertise, sound domain knowledge and analytical tools and partner with organizations in their drive for Operational Excellence, making the business more competitive in the sector.
Power sector being a capital intensive industry requires identification of risks, challenges and preparing roadmap to mitigate them - right from selection of site, selection of technology, line balancing, layout, execution, commissioning and operations. Logistics of fuel and fuel price dynamics also play a critical role in Site location and Technology selection. BOE Consulting has evolved a robust Strategic Project Management approach wherein a ‘Five Gate’ process takes care of end-to-end project execution, ensures vertical start-up, stakeholder’s alignment and satisfaction and delivers projects on time, with no cost over runs. The approach also incorporates Safety & Quality during construction.
BOE Consulting has also developed a own pool of specialists (Specialized Services) who can be deployed to attend Client’s needs at a short notice. These experts, with sound domain knowledge, will provide solutions to Clients for their specific issues.
Apart from this, there is a huge scope in the country for generation of Power from Waste Heat, especially in Cement & Steel plants. The domain expertise of BOE team in manufacturing operations in these industries, clubbed with expertise in Waste Heat power generations provides a unique opportunity for maximization of power generation from Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). With rich technical expertise and commercial acumen, BOE team can make a difference in Technology selection for new projects (both Main plant and WHRS) so as ensure plant operates at high efficiency and delivers highest WHRS generation. BOE Consulting, along with its partners, also offers WHRS solutions on turnkey basis.
