On 24 November simulator training began at Steag Energy Services India, where participants were able to familiarize themselves with the flexible operation of a 660 MW coal-fired power plant. Two more of these four-day training courses are planned before the end of the year.
During the opening ceremony, Dr Claudia Weise (vgbe) reported on the experience German operators have gained in flexible power plant operation. The vgbe supported the design and preparation of the training courses as part of a project under the auspices of the German-Indian Energy Partnership.
The Energy Partnership has also established a tradition of holding workshops once a year at two different locations in India. This year, the workshops took place in Nagpur and Hyderabad. More than 140 participants attended the workshops on 26 and 28 November to learn about making the energy system more flexible. The topic of “flexible operation of thermal power plants” was met with particular interest, as a large proportion of Indian coal-fired power plants are expected to achieve a minimum load of initially 55% and later 40%, as well as load ramps of up to 3%, within the next few years as part of a phasing plan drawn up by the Central Electricity Authority.
The workshops were organized jointly by the Excellence Enhancement Center, der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH / the Indo-German Energy Forum Support Office (IGEF-SO), and vgbe energy. The vgbe team was represented this time by three experts: Dr Christian Ullrich, Sener Günes, and Dr Claudia Weise. The Indian perspective was conveyed through contributions from the Central Electricity Authority, federal and state operators, Grid India, Steag India, and Siemens India.
