Unstoppable power generation

The combined effort across sectors involved in smooth and efficient power generation has significantly boosted the capacity to meet surging electricity demand.

Power generation encompasses multiple domains, including thermal, hydropower, renewable energy, and nuclear power, crucial to fulfilling growing energy needs. Thermal power, predominantly coal-based, remains the largest contributor to Indian energy needs. This sector involves various stakeholders responsible for operations, maintenance and safety, ensuring continuous and reliable power supply. The hydropower sector similarly relies on equipment suppliers and service providers working collaboratively to optimise generation.

Meanwhile, the expanding wind power industry attracts increasing participation from new players, reflecting the country’s commitment to renewable energy. This combined effort across sectors has significantly boosted power generation capacity to meet surging demand. The power industry must focus on technological advancements, address climate and safety concerns, and improve equipment’s durability and performance, ultimately leading to the smooth performance of power plants. These factors are essential for sustainable growth, ensuring consistent power supply.

Industry experts analyse the scenario of the evolving power landscape in India. Let’s delve into the story to gain insights.

Digital Innovation

Digital innovation is a key pillar of future-ready power plants. It is reshaping the Indian power sector by enabling smarter, more proactive asset management, enhancing safety and regulatory compliance, and supporting cleaner energy generation. The combined efforts of industry leaders and regulators are ushering in an era where AI, IoT, digital twins, and predictive analytics are no longer optional but essential for a resilient, efficient, and sustainable power infrastructure.

Industry leaders across power generation, turbine manufacturing, boiler management and renewable energy emphasise the crucial role of these advanced technologies.

Neelav Samrat, a hydropower industry expert, explains, “Digital innovation is a key pillar of future-ready power plants. Indian power plants leverage advanced technologies such as AI, ML, big data analytics and IoT to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and minimise downtime.” He highlights how real-time performance monitoring helps detect anomalies and optimise fuel usage while predictive maintenance powered by AI prevents unexpected outages.

Neelav also points out the growing use of digital twins, “Some advanced facilities are deploying digital twins and virtual replicas of physical assets to simulate scenarios, forecast performance and plan interventions without disrupting operations.” These digital interventions improve plant economics and environmental outcomes by reducing emissions and resource consumption.

Elaborating on the transformative impact of digital twins and predictive maintenance in turbine management, S Narayana Prasad, CEO of Triveni Turbines, states, “Digital twins create real-time, virtual models of physical turbines, allowing operators to simulate and monitor turbine behaviour under various operational conditions.” This technology facilitates continuous performance analysis, remote diagnostics, and scenario simulation to test maintenance strategies and design changes virtually.

Narayan Prasad emphasises predictive maintenance benefits: “Sensors collect vast amounts of operational data such as temperature, vibration, pressure, and rotational speed. Machine learning algorithms analyse this data to predict potential failures or component degradation, enabling planned maintenance actions that prevent unexpected breakdowns and extend equipment lifespan.” He adds, “Reduced unplanned outages lead to significant cost savings and increased plant availability.”

Speaking of the boilers industry, Satbir Singh Cheema, Director of Cheema Boilers Limited, stresses the role of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in boiler management. He says, “IIoT enables continuous monitoring of essential boiler parameters like temperature, pressure and emissions using a network of interconnected sensors. This real-time data collection supports early detection of irregularities and predictive maintenance, which helps prevent equipment failures and minimise unplanned downtime.”

Cheema highlights regulatory compliance, stating that, as per Central Boilers Board guidelines and the latest Boiler Bill 2024, boilers must be inspected annually by authorised inspectors before the operating license is renewed. Digital monitoring and IIoT are increasingly integral to boiler safety compliance in India. He further explains, “Automation in boiler systems reduces human error by managing operations and safety protocols, while remote monitoring minimises exposure to hazardous environments.”

Moreover, Ajay Devaraj, Secretary General of the Indian Wind Power Association, speaking on the benefits of AI and IoT in wind energy, emphasises, “The deployment of AI and IoT sensors allows for continuous monitoring of turbine performance, detecting early signs of potential failures and enabling proactive maintenance interventions.” He notes that predictive maintenance strategies have reduced downtime by up to 30 per cent and maintenance costs by 20 per cent.

Devaraj highlights AI’s role in grid management: “By processing historical weather data and real-time environmental conditions, AI models can accurately forecast wind energy production. This capability enables grid operators to balance supply and demand effectively, ensuring grid stability.”

Transition to low-carbon energy

Transition to low-carbon energy is vital for sustainable growth and climate goals. The country is rapidly expanding renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro to reduce dependence on coal and fossil fuels. Additionally, the country is promoting electric vehicles and green hydrogen to cut emissions further. Challenges remain, including grid integration and financing, but ongoing investments and policy support position India as a global leader in clean energy transition, balancing economic development with environmental responsibility. Here, the industry leaders play their role.

Keeping pace with the ongoing transition, Narayana Prasad highlights the transformative role of innovative technologies in advancing decarbonisation strategies. He notes that heat pumps, energy storage, Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVR), and organic rankine cycle (ORC) systems are becoming pivotal in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting energy efficiency. “Larger, more efficient turbines through advances in blade design and materials have significantly reduced the carbon footprint per unit of electricity,” Prasad explains, emphasising the progress in turbine technology.

He further notes that heat pumps transfer heat from the environment, whether air, ground or water, to provide heating or cooling, effectively replacing fossil fuel-based systems. Their deployment in residential, commercial and industrial sectors, particularly when powered by renewable electricity, “significantly reduces carbon emissions.” Similarly, energy storage solutions such as batteries and thermal storage are crucial in balancing supply and demand, enabling the integration of intermittent renewable sources. Prasad states, “Energy storage improves grid stability, reduces reliance on fossil-fuel peaking plants and facilitates increased renewable deployment.”

Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) plays a key role in industrial decarbonisation by recovering thermal energy. MVR reuses and amplifies waste heat to power evaporation processes with minimal additional energy, thereby cutting fossil fuel consumption and emissions. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system complements these efforts by converting low-grade waste heat into electricity using organic fluids with low boiling points. According to Prasad, this technology “harnesses industrial waste heat or renewable thermal sources to generate clean electricity,” helping reduce fossil fuel dependency.

Neelav Samrat echoes the urgent need for transformation in India’s power sector, which historically depended on coal for nearly 70 percent of its electricity generation. He points out that India is now shifting toward “a more balanced and environmentally sustainable energy mix,” driven by commitments under the Paris Agreement and a goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

Neelav highlights the evolving landscape where thermal power plants are increasingly integrated into hybrid models combining renewables and storage with conventional generation. This approach “provides greater grid reliability and round-the-clock supply,” critical for a nation facing growing peak demand and an expanding consumer base. Together, these advancements mark a decisive shift towards a cleaner, more resilient energy future.

Durability and performance

The durability and performance of power plants are crucial for efficient and reliable energy generation. Durability ensures that equipment withstands harsh operational conditions, reducing downtime and maintenance costs. High-performance power plants optimise fuel use, minimise emissions and deliver consistent power output. Advances in materials, design and monitoring technologies enhance both aspects by preventing faults and extending equipment life. Regular maintenance, real-time monitoring and fault diagnosis improve reliability and safety. Together, durability and performance contribute to sustainable energy production, lower operational costs and improved grid stability, supporting the growing demand for efficient power.

Here, Narayana Prasad highlights the critical role of advanced materials and design innovations in ensuring steam turbine reliability under extreme operating conditions. Manufacturers now utilise high-performance materials conforming to stringent industry standards such as ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) to maintain mechanical integrity amid high temperatures, pressures and corrosive environments. “The use of advanced nickel-based superalloys and improved stainless steels enables key components like blades and rotors to retain strength and resist creep at elevated temperatures,” Prasad explains. Protective coatings such as tungsten carbide-chromium (WcCr Cr), MCrAlY, and ceramic thermal barrier coatings, along with surface treatments like shot peening and plasma nitriding, further enhance resistance to erosion, corrosion and fatigue, thereby extending blade longevity.

In addition to material advancements, aerodynamic improvements are pivotal. 3D blade profiling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are extensively employed to optimise blade shapes, reduce aerodynamic losses, and minimise stress concentrations. Special attention is given to last-stage blades (LSBs), which are particularly vulnerable to erosion and flutter. Innovations like snubber-less or integrally shrouded LSBs reduce vibrational stresses, improving durability and operational stability.

Thermal management is another key area of focus. Internal cooling pathways integrated into rotors, blades, and casings help mitigate thermal stresses, while thermal barrier coatings reduce heat loads on critical components. This combination ensures that turbines operate safely even under demanding conditions. Furthermore, modular designs allow for easier upgrades and repairs and flexibility to adapt turbines for diverse fuel types and operating regimes, including combined cycle and geothermal applications.

Complementing these technological advancements, Neelav Samrat underscores the ongoing modernisation efforts in ageing power plants. “Many plants commissioned decades ago are now retrofitting emission control technologies such as Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems to meet stricter environmental standards,” Neelav states. New plants are designed with ultra-supercritical and advanced technologies operating at higher temperatures and pressures. These innovations improve thermal efficiencies and significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generated, contributing to cleaner and more sustainable power generation.

Experts’ opinions indicate that expanding energy capacity and ensuring an efficient power supply requires innovative approaches across all sectors. When combined with enhanced safety measures and improved operational efficiency in power plants, the generation at a faster pace to meet growing demand is unstoppable.