Hitachi Energy India-BHEL consortium wins Rajasthan HVDC contract
- February 9, 2025
A consortium of Hitachi Energy India Ltd and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has won a mega contract from Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) to build the Rajasthan HVDC transmission project.
In separate stock exchange filings filed on February 9, 2025, Hitachi Energy India Ltd and BHEL said that a consortium of the two entities has received the letter of intent from Rajasthan Part I Power Transmission Ltd for design and execution of the HVDC link along with associated AC substations to transmit renewable energy from Bhadla III in Rajasthan to Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajasthan Part I Power Transmission Ltd is a wholly-owned TBCB subsidiary of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd.
The formal contract agreement will be executed at a later date, and the project is scheduled to complete by 2030. The value of the contract is not yet available.
The project involves establishment of two HVDC LCC terminals of ±800kV, 6000 MW – one each at Bhadla III in Rajasthan and Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. The contract also covers the HVDC line and associated AC substations.
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) acquired Rajasthan Part I Power Transmission Ltd under the tariff-based competitive bidding route. This is the first HVDC project won by a private sector entity under the TBCB modality.
Second mandate for the consortium
Interestingly, the same Hitachi Energy India-BHEL consortium, in November 2024, won a similar order from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) relating to the HVDC system housed under “Khavda V-A Power Transmission Ltd,” a TBCB subsidiary of PGCIL.
The project involves setting up of a ±800kV, 6,000 MW bi-pole and bi-directional HVDC link, running 1,200 km, from Khavda Pooling Station-2 (KPS2) in Khavda, Gujarat to Nagpur in Maharashtra.
PGCIL, on November 19, 2024, formally acquired Khavda V-A Power Transmission Ltd, making the first power transmission project using HVDC technology to be ever awarded under the TBCB philosophy.
LCC technology
Both the Rajasthan and Khavda HVDC projects discussed in this story will deploy LCC (line commutable converter) technology. This technology was also deployed for PGCIL’s now-operational ±800kV Raigarh-Pugalur HVDC link, from Chhattisgarh to Tamil Nadu. This HVDC system was also built by the Hitachi Energy India-BHEL consortium. However, the onward portion of this HVDC link, from Pugalur to Thrissur (in Kerala), is a ±320kV HVDC system designed on VSC (voltage source converter) technology and commissioned by a consortium of Siemens Energy and Sumitomo.
Also read: Hitachi Energy India records highest-ever order backlog of nearly Rs.19,000 crore
Featured photograph (source Hitachi Energy India Ltd) is for representation only
