Karnataka has carved a special place for itself in the country’s power sector as it not only pioneered power generation, transmission and supply but also that of power reforms.
The erstwhile Mysore caught the attention of the world in 1902 when it became the first state in Asia to generate hydro-electric power by commissioning a hydel project at Shivanasamudram of Malavalli taluk.
The world’s then longest power line with a length of 140 km was also built at the same time by Mysore State to link this power project with Kolar Gold Fields.
The journey which started thus on a glorious note saw a major milestone in 1971 when Karnataka became the first State to commence the process of power reforms by unbundling power generation from transmission and distribution activities.
In fact, other States could take up the process of unbundling only two-and-a-half decades after Karnataka’s experiment.
Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), which is the State’s transmission utility, has been striving not only to provide quality service with technical excellence but also to carry forward the reforms in tune with the State’s image as a leader in the power sector.
It has got an unenviable task of providing transmission infrastructure in tune with the increase in power consumption as well as the addition to power generation capacity. With a vast transmission network covering 966 power sub-stations and 30,539 circuit km of transmission lines, KPTCL is one of the leading transmission utilities in the power sector.
In a bid to increase its efficiency and to reduce outages, KPTCL has been adopting the latest technologies, especially those in the Information and Communication fields. It has been a pioneer in setting up a “Supervision Control and Data Acquisition for Load and Energy Management” (SCADA) system that provides for automated monitoring of power receiving substations. It has the largest SCADA network in the country.
KPTCL has made a name for itself at the national level as it has managed to reduce the transmission losses in the State to a level of just 3.907 per cent which is said to be the lowest in the country.
KPTCL has transmitted 56,928 million units of power during 2011-12 as against 50,516 MUs during 2010-11 and 47,783 MUs in 2009-10.
KPTCL is also known for innovations in its approach to the power sector.
As it is becoming increasingly difficult to get land for setting up substations in urban areas due to the high demand as well as sky-rocketing prices, the corporation has switched over to compact substations titled Gas Insulated Substations (GIS) whose land requirement is up to 25 per cent of that required for conventional substations.
The maintenance of GIS is easy and they could be set up faster than the conventional substations. While two such innovative substations have been set up, the work on another five is going on in Bangalore.
KPTCL’s recently commissioned 186-km state-of-the-art 400 kV power transmission line connecting Udupi and Shantigrama in Hassan district is a landmark for the State in terms of technical parameters.
This is the longest transmission line in the State having a double-circuit quad moose conductor that will help in quality transmission of high-volume power at low loss level.
The line indicates the excellence as well as the capacity to handle challenging situations by KPTCL as it passes through difficult terrain in the Malnad region. In all, 530 transmission towers with a height of 46 metres have been erected to support this line.
