Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has accorded investment proposal for a transmission scheme in Rajasthan.
In a brief stock exchange filing, PGCIL said that its Committee of Directors on Investment on Projects, in its meeting held on December 13, 2022, accorded investment approval for “Transmission System for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW) under Phase-III Part-J,” at an estimated cost of Rs.330.61 crore.
Though the stock exchange filing gave no further details, it is reliably learnt at the aforementioned scheme will be implemented by PGCIL on regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) basis.
According to information available with T&D India from official sources, the said transmission scheme was approved at the 8th meeting of the National Committee on Transmission (NCT), held on March 25, 2022. Then estimated to cost around Rs.250 crore, NCT cleared the transmission scheme for implementation under the RTM modality.
The implementation timeframe of this transmission scheme is linked with the commissioning schedules of various project components (parts) under the overall project “Transmission System for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW) under Phase-III.”
The objective of the scheme is evacuation of renewable energy (RE) power getting pooled at various substations in Rajasthan – Fategarh-2, Bhadla-2, Bikaner and Jhatikara. This will be achieved by installations of various transformers, as outlined below:
- Augmentation with 400/220kV, 1x500MVA transformer (10th) at Fatehgarh-2 PS
- Augmentation with 765/400kV, 1x1500MVA transformer (5th) at Bhadla-2 PS
- Augmentation with 765/400kV, 1x1500MVA transformer (3rd) at PGCIL’s Bikaner PS
- Augmentation of 1×1500 MVA ICT (3rd), 765/400kV ICT at Jhatikara substation (Bamnoli/Dwarka section)
Other components
It is learnt that the overall project officially termed as “Transmission System for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW) under Phase-III” has several parts designated as Part A1, Part A2, Part A3, Part B, etc. These parts will be developed using a combination of TBCB and RTM modes. “Part J” as discussed in this story is a case of RTM modality.
PFC Consulting Ltd (PFCCL) has been designated as the bid process coordinator (BPC) for at least five such parts that would be implemented under the TBCB route. These components are: Part A1, Part A3, Part B1, Part G and Part H. Further, PFCCL, in February/March this year initiated the bidding process for developing three of these projects – Part A1, Part A3 and Part H – on BOOT basis, under the TBCB route.
Similarly, REC Power Development & Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL), as bid process coordinator, similarly began in the bidding process – also in around March 2022 – for “Part F” of this project.
Also read:PGCIL Expects Shoot-Up In Capex In FY25 And Beyond
Hybrid transmission
The overall scheme “Transmission System for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW)” envisages evacuation infrastructure from the additional 20 GW renewable energy potential from the upcoming renewable energy zones of Fatehgarh (9.1 GW), Bhadla (8 GW) and Ramgarh (2.9 GW) in Rajasthan.
As part of Phase-III system, Fatehgarh-4 and Bhadla-3 pooling stations (PS) are to be established which will be interconnected with Fatehgarh-3 and Fatehgarh-2 PS, respectively. Further, renewable sources in Ramgarh complex are also proposed to be pooled at Ramgarh PS which shall be interconnected with Bhadla-3 PS.
In view of integration and evacuation of additional 20 GW RE in Rajasthan with reliability as well as taking care of RE variability, under Phase-III, hybrid transmission system comprising EHV AC (765kV) and HVDC corridors are planned towards Delhi and Southern Uttar Pradesh.
Featured photograph is for representation only
