Green Thyagraj Stadium gets IGL gas for power

It's the first green stadium and come April, it would be able to generate its own power for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Delhi government's Thyagraj Stadium will be getting natural gas from next month onwards, enabling it to become one of the first buildings in the city to be self-sufficient, power-wise. The government, which has tied-up with IGL to supply 30,000 square cubic metre (scm) per day to the gas turbines at Thyagraj Stadium, is all set to start generation soon. Said a senior PWD official, "The power generated would not only take care of the needs of the stadium but after the Games, will support the needs of the city as well.''

As part of the agreement, IGL will supply 30,000scm per day of natural gas for the 3.5MW gas turbines installed at the stadium, which would be producing power on the principle of co-generation where waste heat from turbine exhaust would be used to run 1,300 TR VAM for air-conditioning. According to sources, IGL has already laid the pipeline to connect to the stadium. The installation of metering and regulating station is almost complete and the gas supply is expected to start in the last week of March, 2010.

According to PWD officials, the gas supply will start this month-end, with the stadium scheduled to be inaugurated on April 2. Incidentally, the power generated will be more than enough for the consumption of light and air-conditioning of 1,300 tonne for the stadium without any additional cost. This would be through a vapour absorption machine using exhaust gases generated by the turbine. The 3.5MW of power, after the Games, will remain available for Delhi or it may be fed to the national grid.

Thyagraj Stadium has been constructed as per green building concept which includes rainwater harvesting and rainwater use, effluent treatment plant, use of fly ash bricks, heat insulation through cavity walls, glazing with double insulated glass and thermal insulation on roof and wall, conservation of water through use of recycled water for flushing and horticulture and adjustable flow taps with censors and dual knob flushing, solar power generator of 1MW, use of clean fuel i.e. gas turbine type generator sets and heat recovery for use in chillers.

Apart from the green stadium, government officials say the greening efforts in the city have been on-going for some time now. Delhi has the largest CNG-operated vehicles in the country. To address the increased demand of CNG in Delhi, efforts are on to commission 55 new CNG stations out of which 21 have been commissioned.