BHEL-ABB consortium to execute Power Grid's new transmission project
23 Mar 2011
A consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and ABB Sweden has won an order from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd for construction of ± 800 kV 6,000 MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) multi-terminal system package.
The order value for BHEL is Rs1,590 crore and is the largest order for BHEL in T&D sector, BHEL said in a release.
The transmission line, which is part of the NE/ER-N/WR Interconnector-1 project, will be world's first ± 800 kV, 6,000 MW ultra high voltage multi-terminal DC transmission link.
The link comprises three converter terminals and a power transmission system with a built-in capacity of up to 8,000 MW, which is the largest HVDC transmission system ever built. The use of ultra high voltage (± 800 kV) minimises transmission losses. In financial terms, this is the largest order finalised in T&D sector anywhere in the world, the release said.
The ± 800 kV North-East Agra UHVDC link will have a capacity to transmit up to 6,000 MW of clean hydroelectric power from the North-East region of the country to Agra across a distance of 1,728 km. This transmission super highway will, to a large extent, ease the ever-increasing power shortages in northern India.
BHEL said it had taken certain strategic steps a few years back to gear itself up to meet the challenges being thrown open in the Indian power sector and has already enhanced its annual transformer manufacturing capacity to 45,000 MVA to remain the biggest manufacturer of transformers in the country.
