India has planned to add 31,600 mw of interregional transfer capacity during the five-year period from FY23 to FY27, as per the National Electricity Plan (NEP).
Recently prepared and promulgated by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), “National Electricity Plan (Draft): Volume II – Transmission,” is currently open for public comments before it is finalized.
With 31,600 mw getting added during the said five-year period, the cumulative interregional transfer capacity is expected to reach 1,43,850 mw, as of March 31, 2027 – around 28 per cent higher than the 1,12,250 mw, as of March 31, 2022.
The 31,600 mw envisaged to be added in the FY23-FY27 period would be lower than the 37,200 mw actually added in the preceding five-year period from FY18 to FY22. It may be mentioned that the planned addition in the FY18-FY22 period was 43,000 mw.
It is also independently learnt that over 30 per cent of the 31,600 mw of interregional transfer capacity envisaged for addition in FY23-FY27 would come from HVDC lines.
As can be seen in the table alongside, nearly two-thirds of the envisaged addition will be to link the western and northern grids. The WR-NR transfer capacity is likely to reach 56,720 mw by March 31, 2027, up 54 per cent from its level of 36,720 mw as of March 31, 2022.
The transfer capacity between the western and southern grids will be augmented by 10,000 mw during FY23-FY27, taking the total to 28,120 mw.
The National Electricity Plan notes that the summation of the transmission capacities of interregional links is a figurative representation of the transmission capacity between the regions. These aggregate numbers do not indicate actual power transfer capability across different regions or states. The power transfer capability between two points in a grid depends upon a number of factors such as power flow pattern, voltage stability, angular stability, loop flows, line loading etc. Hence, the actual power transfer capacity between two regions may be less than the summation of the transmission capacity of interregional links.
Achievement so far
Though the NEP has not explicitly mentioned the quantum of IR capacity added in the FY23-FY27 period so far, it is independently learnt that as of September 30, 2023, total IR capacity was around 1,14,450 mw. This suggests that some 2,200 mw has got added during the first 18 months (April 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023) of the said five-year period.
Also read: Interregional Electricity Exchange Grows Marginally In April-July FY24
Featured photograph (source: Sterlite Power) is for representation only.
