ABB has teamed up with India’s national electricity grid operator Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (‘Powergrid’) in a mega-project worth over $640 million to deliver a transmission link that will have the capacity to bring reliable electricity to more than 80 million people. The Raigarh-Pugalur 800 kV UHV direct current system will connect Raigarh in central India to Pugalur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The 1830 km link will be among the longest in the world. With a capacity of 6000 MW – it will carry enough power to meet the electricity needs of over 80 million people. The two-way link will integrate thermal and wind energy by transmitting power to high load centres located thousands of kilometers away, supporting electricity demands in the south, when wind strength is low, and transmitting energy to the north when there is excess wind power.
The turnkey project encompasses design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning and major equipment supplies include the complete UHVDC stations, including transformers, converter valves, cooling systems, as well as control and protection technology. Total project value is more than $840 million, and the balance will be executed by ABB’s consortium partner BHEL, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. It is expected to be completed in 2019.
Claudio Facchin, president of ABB’s Power Grids division commented: “We will [employ] our extensive local manufacturing and engineering base in India and proven partnership with our consortium partner BHEL for the execution of this prestigious project”.
ABB has a long HVDC track record in India, where it introduced the technology over 25 years ago with the Vindhyachal project in 1989. Raigarh-Pugalur is ABB’s sixth HVDC project in the country and the second UHVDC installation, following the multi-terminal North-East Agra link, which has been already partially energised and is in the final phase of completion.
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