In a very recent order, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted final transmission licence to “Bhadla-III Transmission Ltd,” a TBCB-subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).
The transmission licence shall remain in force for a period of 25 years from the date of issue, unless revoked earlier, the CERC order dated December 15, 2024 said.
In its order of November 15, 2024, CERC had granted interim transmission licence to Bhadla-III subject to response to the public notice that the petitioner was expected to publish. Accordingly, Bhadla-III Transmission Ltd filed a public notice on November 28, 2024 to which no public response was received.
Bhadla-III Transmission Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL that is developing an ISTS scheme known as “Additional transmission system for evacuation of power from Bhadla-III PS as part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III (20 GW),” under the build, own, operate & transfer (BOOT) model.
Bidding process
PGCIL won the project under the TBCB route quoting annual transmission charge (tariff) of Rs.661.52 million, getting the better of the only contender Sterlite Power. It is interesting to note that PGCIL’s initial price bid was Rs.750 million, which was lowered by a significant 12 per cent by the end of the e-reverse auction routine.
SPV acquisition
PGCIL formally acquired the project SPV “Bhadla-III Transmission Ltd” from bid process coordinator REC Power Development & Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL) on August 28, 2024.
Project details
The project, estimated to cost Rs.369 crore and currently under construction, involves augmentation of the Bhadla-III Pooling Station (PS) in Rajasthan by putting up two interconnecting transformers (ICT) of 765/400kV, 1500 MVA ratings, which will be the third and fourth such ICT at the pooling station. Besides, two ICTs of 400/220kV, 500 MVA will also be put up. While the overall completion date of the project is February 2026, one 765/400kV ICT is scheduled to come up by December 2025.
Bhadla III & Bhadla-III
It is interesting to note that PGCIL has another TBCB-subsidiary “Bhadla III Transmission Ltd” that is developing an ISTS scheme called “Transmission system for evacuation of power from Rajasthan REZ (20 GW) under Phase III, Part B1.” This project involves, among other elements, developing the greenfield 765/400kV, 3×1500 and 400/220kV, 3×500 MVA Bhadla-III pooling station. The Bhadla-III PS is scheduled to commission by March 2025.
Augmentation to this pooling station is now being done under “Bhadla-III Transmission Ltd” as discussed in this story. (Note the hyphen between “Bhadla” and “III”). Bhadla III Transmission Ltd has since been renamed to “Powergrid Bhadla III Transmission Ltd.”
Also read: CERC grants interim transmission licence to five ISTS-TBCB projects
Featured photograph is for representation only
