Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved grant of transmission license to the Patran substation expansion project in Punjab that is being developed under the RTM route.
In a recent order, CERC, while approving the grant of transmission license, has directed the developer to invite objections and/or suggestions through a public notice, and submit the same to CERC by June 7, 2023.
The RTM project under discussion is officially termed as: “augmentation of transmission capacity by 1×500 MVA, 400/220kV ICT (3rd) at 400/220kV Patran GIS substation.”
The developer of this project will be Patran Transmission Company Ltd (PTCL), now a subsidiary of India Grid Trust (IndiGrid).
The project, costing around Rs.65.19 crore, was approved by Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) on November 28, 2022. CTUIL also recommended that the project be implemented under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) modality.
The rationale for going in for the RTM route was that the developer, PTCL, has already developed an interstate transmission scheme under the TBCB mode, and this project under discussion is an additional component of the same.
The underlying TBCB project, commissioned in June 2016, involved setting up of a 2×500 MVA, 400/220kV GIS substation at Patran and LILO (loop-in, loop-out) of both circuits of the 400kV Patiala-Kathial at Patran.
The third ICT (interconnecting transformer), now proposed to be developed under the RTM route, was proposed by Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd (PSTCL) in view of the increasing agricultural load in Punjab. This project came up for discussion in the 11th Consulting Meeting for Evolving Transmission Schemes in Northern Region, held on September 30, 2022.
It may be noted that Patran Transmission Company Ltd (PTCL), originally owned by Techno Electric Engineering Ltd (TEECL) its associate Techno Power Grid Company Ltd (TPGCL), was acquired by India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) in 2018. According to information available with T&D India, IndiGrid owns a 74 percent equity stake in PTCL but has 100 percent economic ownership of the company.
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Approval for ISTS schemes
As per the latest power ministry guidelines, CTUIL is empowered to approve ISTS schemes, including their mode of implementation (whether TBCB or RTM), which have an estimated outlay of up to Rs.100 crore. Schemes costing between Rs.100 crore to Rs.500 crore can be cleared by the National Committee on Transmission (NCT). All ISTS schemes costing over Rs.500 crore need clearance from the Union power ministry.
Featured photograph (source: IndiGrid) shows an operational asset of Patran Transmission Company Ltd
