The Union Ministry of Power has launched a massive programme for creation of high capacity corridors in certain States like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh where power projects are coming up in a big way which will lead to massive generation capacity in the coming years.
In order to evacuate this large amount of electricity, 11 high-capacity power transmission corridors have been planned at an estimated cost of Rs. 75,000 crore. Most of these corridors will be constructed by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and the same is proposed to be implemented through private participation/tariff based competitive bidding process. Implementation of these corridors has been taken up in a phased manner matching with generation projects.
“The high-capacity transmission lines are futuristic technology of transmission sector as they have numerous benefits such as low aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses due to high voltage, cost effectiveness, reduced need of right of way (RoW),” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy said in its recommendations on this issue in a recent report.
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The Committee was of the view that such mega transmission projects, especially the high capacity power transmission corridors, should be accorded environment and forest clearance more liberally and in time-bound manner as laying of transmission lines have negligible impact on forest/environment and there is no change in land use patterns.
However, on the other hand, the grand plan to synchronise the South grid with the national grid, which comprises four regional grids, to address the power shortage in the region is likely to miss the January 2014 deadline due to poor progress of work on the two 765 kV lines and failure of executing agencies to carry out construction activity according to the schedule.
At present, all regional grids, except the southern region, are synchronously interconnected with each other and run at one frequency. However, the Southern Region Grid is connected asynchronously to Northern, Eastern, North Eastern and Western region (NEW) grids through HVDC (high voltage direct current) and has different frequency. The synchronisation of Southern Grid gained pace after large parts of the country faced blackouts for almost three days from July 31 last year. The Southern Grid is being connected by two 765 kV lines connecting Sholapur (Western Region) to Racihur (Southern Region). One of the circuits is being implemented by a private company Raichur Sholapur Transmission Company Limited (RSTCL) and the other circuit is being implemented by PGCIL.
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The Standing Committee has expressed concern over the slow progress of the project which will enable the interconnection of all the grids of the country for running at the same frequency and making the national grid fully functional. The interconnection of the Southern Grid with NEW grid will benefit the power deficit southern region by facilitating it to draw more power from other regions. “The Committee strongly recommends the government to ensure that RSTCL resolve the remaining issues at the earliest and ensure that the construction work related to the project is expedited by RSTCL and PGCIL lest this important project gets delayed,” it adds.
The cost of one circuit of 765 kV Raichur-Sholapur line, being implemented by RSTCL at the time of bidding was estimated at Rs. 440 crore. The cost of the second circuit being implemented by PGCIL has been estimated at Rs. 246.37 crore.
The project has been faced with delays in construction work due to land acquisition issues and RoW problems at 18 locations in Afjalpur area in Karnataka and 12 locations in Jewergi, also in Karnataka. A scrutiny by the Parliamentary Committee has revealed that in respect of RSTCL project, only nine towers have been erected out of 541 towers proposed for the entire 208-km link while in case of PGCIL, only eight towers have been erected which is likely to lead to breach of the January 2014 deadline for completion of work.