Swedish firm to launch new power technology next year

AHMEDABAD - Sandwik Asia Pvt Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of the $13 billion Sandwik AB Group of Sweden, will launch a new boiler technology that will usher in major technological changes in power production in India over the next decade, a company official said.

Ajay Sambrani, vice-president and product unit head of Sandwik Asia’s tubular division, said here Friday that the seamless stainless steel tubing technology for the power plants will be introduced next year from the company facility in Mehsana, north Gujarat. It is likely to see power plants switch technology from sub-critical to ultra-critical.

The company, which has four other plants in Indiaat Pune and Chiplun (Maharashtra), Hosur (Tamil Nadu), and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), expects to increase its overall turnover from Rs.1,467 crore to Rs.2,000 crore next year and Rs.5,000 crore in the next five years, he added.

The new technology which will also have use in sectors like aerospace, energy, oil and gas and chemicals and fertilizers, will bring down the actual cost of per-megawatt production from Rs.4.50 crore besides significantly reducing emission.

Sambrani said he expects India to have over 60 to 70 super critical power plants totalling 60,000 MW, as the government’s 12th Five-Year Plan is targeting additional production of one lakh megawatt by 2016.

“And with the existing thermal power plants also effecting technology change, there will be a huge market in this segment,” he added.