Siemens to Supply Steam Turbines for Concentrated Solar Thermal in Rajasthan

Siemens Energy has been awarded three orders by different customers to supply a total of four steam turbine generator units for concentrating solar thermal power plants in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

The steam turbines of type SST-700 are intended for the Godawari, Abhijeet and Diwakar & KVK parabolic trough solar power plants. With a total rating of 300 megawatts (MW), these concentrating solar power plants will make a contribution to meeting India’s growing electricity demand from solar power when they go on line in the spring of 2013.

All four concentrated power plant projects in the state of Rajasthan are being constructed as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), the Indian government’s ongoing program for promoting solar power. The program envisages installing up to 20 gigawatts of solar power capacity in India by the year 2022.

The parabolic trough power plants Godawari owned by Godawari Green Energy Ltd. and Abhijeet owned by Corporate Ispat Alloys Ltd. are each rated 50 MW. Siemens has been awarded contracts for an SST-700 steam turbine generator unit and auxiliary systems for each of these units. The third customer, Lanco Solar Energy, has ordered a steam turbine and generator rated at 100 MW, complete with auxiliary systems for each of the two units of the Diwakar & KVK parabolic trough power plant.

"As a leading provider of steam turbines for concentrating solar thermal power plants with an excellent track record in Spain and the USA, we are now in the front running on the rapidly developing market in India, too,“ says Markus Tacke, CEO of the Industrial Power business unit at Siemens Energy.

Siemens offers type SST-700 steam turbines for solar thermal power plants with a rated output of up to 175MW. This type of turbine is particularly suitable for use in solar thermal power plants, because it can be run up and down quickly to respond very rapidly to the fluctuating service conditions typical of these plants. In addition, superheating the steam improves the efficiency of the turbines and thus of the power plant as a whole.

By José Santamarta, www.siemens.com