Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has dispatched its first consignment of boiler components for two 135 MW Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC) to Koniambo Nickel in the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, reports Business Line.

The consignment, comprising around 40 tons of steel columns was flagged off by Jude Adhipan, Koniambo Project Manager, in the presence of A.V. Krishnan, Executive Director, BHEL Tiruchirappalli Complex, and other senior officials.

Krishnan said BHEL (Q,N,C,F)* would dispatch a total of 14,000 tons of components for each of the two boilers against this export contract from New Caledonia, a French colony near Australia.

``This signifies a major breakthrough for BHEL in its drive to enter new markets worldwide with its range of environment-friendly CFBC boilers,`` he said.

The CFBC boilers have been designed to ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) standards and are also compliant with European Community standards.

S. Gopinath, General Manager (Operations), said BHEL would for the first time ship boiler components through the new Karaikal Port. This is expected to result in significant savings for the company, both in terms of transportation costs and transit time.

Shares of the company declined Rs 16.25, or 0.72%, to settle at Rs 2,227.85. The total volume of shares traded was 122,132 at the BSE (Friday).