business news

Thermax-Babcock venture to make supercritical boilers
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: Thermax, the Pune-based energy and environment solutions company has entered into 51:49 joint venture with U.S.-based Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG), a global leader in power generation. The joint venture will make subcritical boilers of over 300 MW in size.
The joint venture will bring to the Indian power sector Thermax's expertise of integrating energy and environment solutions and B&W's track record of providing proven power generation technology and world-class project management capabilities.
The joint venture will entail an investment of Rs. 700 crore in a 1:1 debt-equity ratio. Thermax's equity investment of just over Rs. 175 crore will be funded from its reserves. The supercritical boilers will be made in a new facility that is still being planned. The plant will have an annual capacity of 3000 MW equivalent in the first phase and will indigenise the technology and contribute to local component development.
“We are proud to offer the services of this joint venture to support the government's initiatives to improve the power scenario. And we are happy that in B&W, we have a global technology leader whose boilers generate over 300,000 MW of power around the world,” said M. S. Unnikrishnan, Thermax Managing Director & CEO.
R&D facility
Thermax has a well established technology R&D facility with 120 patents.
B&W pioneered the development of supercritical boilers and this technology will allow the new joint venture to contribute to efficient power generation in the mega thermal plants planned to meet the huge energy requirements of the country. Supercritical boilers operate at higher pressures than subcritical boilers, increasing efficiency and producing more energy from the same amount of fuel. The new venture is being established at a critical time when India's ambitious growth plans and its dependence on coal-fired power plants for power throw up tremendous energy and environment challenges. In the context of emission reduction and the need to conserve fossil fuel, energy-efficient power generation is a critical requirement and the joint venture will help meet these challenges. Thermax and B&W have had a business relationship for over 20 years, and in February 2008,
Thermax signed a technology transfer agreement with B&W PGG for manufacturing subcritical power boilers. “This joint venture presents substantial opportunities for both B&W PGG and Thermax,” Richard Killion, President and COO, B&W PGG, said.