Energetica India Magazine October-November 2021

3. Technical Knowhow Bidding norms for hydropower projects in India are also not standard across states, with varying minimum thresholds for royalty/free power, upfront premiums and free equity. More- over, the bidding norms (particularly upfront premium and free equity) themselves lead to significant cash outflows even be - fore the commissioning stage, impacting project financials and viability. Because of various reasons, schedule of Civil Work of any Hydro-Electric Project is shifted considerably. To make up above delay in civil work, which is many a times beyond con- trol, we need to compress/crash Schedule of Hydro-Mechan- ical Work, particularly Erection / Commissioning. The afore- said compression will enable early completion of Project and resultant revenue generation. With suitable modern cranes / erection machinery / infrastructure, a good teamwork, modern communication system, support of all concerned and paral- lel working with Civil Work, HM Work schedule can be com- pressed considerably. Each Hydro Project is to be reviewed in totality on a comprehensive basis and innovative measures to be adopted as per situation to ensure compressed schedule on sustained basis. Compression of Schedule is possible in following areas: i) Design & Engineering ii) Procurement of Long Lead Items iii) Shop Manufacturing iv) Transportation v) Site Manufacturing vi) Erection & Commissioning i) Design & Engineering Latest computerized design technique with tailor-made soft- ware is to be followed for cost-effective preparation of Design & Engineering within shortest possible period. (Generally with- in one month) ii) Procurement of Long Lead Items Major Long Lead Items are as below: • Special Steel (for Penstock, Gate Skin plate etc.) • Bearings / self-lubricating bush (For Trunnion) • Hydraulic Cylinder & Power Pack • Pre-Stressed Anchorage System, if any. • Cranes / Hoist The above Long Lead Items should be designed in a way that the same can be sourced as per compressed schedule. Local sources are to be developed to reduce procurement time / cost and also following “Make in India” initiative. Hydraulic cylinder and self-lubricating bush are similar items, which presently are imported from Germany/Europe/USA involving high figure of Foreign Exchange and long transportation / delivery time. iii) Shop Manufacturing Shop Manufacturing cycle time should be reduced by adopting modern and suitable process flow wherein all shop work i.e. Plate cutting, edge preparation, shaping, fixing, welding & ma - chining are on automatic or semi-automatic mode. iv) Transportation Size and weight of manufactured components are to be de- signed suitably for economical transportation from shop to site by Trailer / Truck. This aspect should be taken care itself during design engineering stage. Penstock of cascading design may be followed, particularly where heavy site fabrication is not possible / feasible. v) Site Manufacturing Penstock is mostly manufactured at site. Here also automatic / semi-automatic mode of welding will reduce time, reduce man- power, improve quality and ensure cost-effectiveness. Similarly, low head Radial gates can also be done at site as machining is not involved in preparation of skin plate assembly and no of gate required are more. vi) Erection & Commissioning The two important Schedule Compression Techniques (Fast-Tracking and Crashing) are generally used by the Project Manager during the lifecycle of the Project from Project Initia- HYDRO POWER 19 energetica INDIA- Oct-Nov_2021