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GE Power Conversion has been chosen to supply the power and propulsion system for the first diesel-electric ship to be built in India and to incorporate medium-voltage equipment. Delivery of the vessel is expected in 2015.

Bharati Shipyard, based in Mumbai, has signed two contracts with GE for the current project. The main agreement is with GE Power Conversion in France for the design, production and supply of the power and propulsion equipment (generators, motors and drives).

The supplementary contract is with GE Power Conversion in India, which will be responsible for technical services, design, documentation, installation checks, commissioning and sea trials.

"One of the key reasons why Bharati wanted to work with GE is because of their ability to provide strong local engineering and technical support," said Partho Burmon Roy, a director at Bharati Shipyard. "Our two companies know each other well, having worked together in the past on offshore projects."

The medium-voltage propulsion system is rated at 3.3 kV, with two propulsion motors of 5 MW. Each motor is fitted with one of GE’s MV7000 drives, which are said to offer high efficiency and control flexibility. MV7000 drive technology can be applied to a wide range of equipment: the drives can feed both induction and synchronous machines with high performance vector control across all speed ranges.

Paul English, marine business leader for GE Power Conversion remarked: "GE has built up a good reputation in India over many years, and this has clearly helped us to win this interesting new contract. The people at Bharati know they can trust us to deliver with a medium-voltage propulsion system that will be unique in Indian waters. They also know that we are very good at accommodating application-specific needs into individual projects, according to each customer’s unique situation.

"We are also very happy to gain the Government of India as the final end user of this type of medium voltage diesel-electric propulsion vessel for the first time, and we will be working hard to make sure it is not the last," English added. "We have been working on this project for two years, and I think it is fair to say that all parties are very satisfied with the outcome. Overall, we see good prospects for power and propulsion systems in India in the marine industry."