5 November 2011
Update
Capital Goods
Dongfang’s designs on India spell concerns about competition
Chinese company aims to set up BTG, spare-parts manufacturing facility
We recently interacted with the management of Dongfang Electric Machinery Company (DFEM). Key takeaways:
Concerns over rising competition in the Indian power equipment market on Chinese aspirations in India.
Dongfang plans to set up BTG, spare parts manufacturing facilities in India.
The management tried to allay fears about quality issues, which they said, originated due differences to in
operational practices at generating units.
We believe the recent proposal to levy import duty on power equipment will benefit local companies like
BHEL, but the industry will stay competitive given slowing demand and a spurt in manufacturing capacity.
DFEM considers manufacturing in India:
India
continues to be an important market for Dongfang Electric
Machinery Company (DFEM), which is involved in over
20GW of power projects in India. DFEM is considering the
possibility of setting up a power equipment (Boiler and
Turbine Generator) manufacturing plant in India. DFEM
has technology collaboration with Hitachi for boilers and
turbine generators (TG). Hitachi has an exclusive tie-up
with BGR Energy in India for super-critical boilers and TG.
This may prove to be an area of contention if DFEM wishes
to set up manufacturing in India. We are doubtful about
DFEM's intentions to set up a BTG plant in India, given its
30GW of manufacturing capacity in China, which would
be underutilized if another plant were to be set up in a
growing market like India. However, DFEM is certainly
looking to set up a manufacturing facility for spares to serve
Indian customers. We believe that with spares
manufacturing, DFEM will gain higher acceptance among
Indian private power developers.
Focus on equipment supply, not EPC:
DFEM is focusing
on equipment orders and not EPC contracts. This is due to
difficulty in getting work visas for workers. Generally, an
EPC contract involves mobilization of a large number of
workers. DFEM set up two power projects for West Bengal
State Electricity Board: Sagardighi (600MW) and Durgapur
(300MW), on an EPC basis. Both projects faced major
issues, resulting in escalation of serious disputes between
DFEM and the utility.
Confident about quality:
DFEM does not see quality
issues with its equipment. According to DFEM, problems
faced at various projects were largely due to operational
practices and with time, the issues were sorted out and
some of the plants in India are operating at nearly 100%
PLF. Chinese equipment has often been cited as consuming
higher auxiliary power. DFEM stated that in its case, this
was largely due to customers asking for higher rating
auxiliaries such as motors. Chinese equipment
manufacturers have played an important role in the Indian
power market.
Chinese presence well established in India:
Chinese
players are expanding their presence in overseas markets,
including India, given the stagnation in capacity addition in
China. Chinese companies added over 20GW of capacity
DFEM, Shanghai Electric Company and Harbin have a strong
Indian presence (MW)
16,468
14,160
9,480
3,570
3,300
Dong Fang
SEC
Harbin
SEPCO
SCMEC
Source: Company/MOSL
Dhirendra Tiwari
(Dhirendra.Tiwari@MotilalOswal.com) +91 22 3982 5127
Deepak Narnolia
(Deepak.Narnolia@MotilalOswal.com) +91 22 3982 5126