GE has announced that it has recently commissioned the second pole of the ±800kV UHVDC Champa-Kurukshetra transmission system. This marks the completion of the first phase of the project. The two-phase project, owned by Power Grid Corporation of India, aims to transfer up to 6,000 mw of electricity from Chhattisgarh in eastern to northern India.
Presented below is an overview of the project:
Phase-I
The first phase of the project entails one bipole (two poles) and a transmission system. The two poles together have a transmission capacity of 3,000 mw.
Pole 1 was put into operations on March 24, 2017. It consists of an HVDC terminal at Champa in Chhattisgarh (Western Region) and another at Kurukshetra in Uttar Pradesh (Northern Region). The two terminals are connected by the 800kV Champa-Kurukshetra HVDC line, spanning 2,576 circuit km. Pole 1 and the transmission line was built with a total investment of around Rs.6,300 crore. Pole 2 was commissioned on September 25, 2017.
Phase-I is part of the “±800kV, 3000-mw WR-NR HVDC Interconnector Transmission System for IPP Projects in Chhattisgarh” and is denoted as CK-1. [CK stands for Champa-Kurukshetra]
Phase-II
The second phase of the project is part of the ““Transmission System Strengthening in WR-NR Transmission corridor for IPP Projects in Chhattisgarh” and involves a second bipole (two poles) with a total transmission capacity of 3,000 mw. The project, also to be constructed by GE, is scheduled to complete by end-2018, at a total cost of Rs.5,200 crore. Phase-II is denoted as CK-2. [CK stands for Champa-Kurukshetra]
Objective: The 800kV UHVDC Champa-Kurukshetra system, in its entirety, will help transmit up to 6,000 mw of electricity from upcoming power projects in the Raigarh, Champa and Raipur regions of Chhattisgarh, to consumption centres like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and adjoining areas in northern India.
HVDC Advantage: The deployment of HVDC technology ensures much higher (up to three times) power transfer capability when compared with conventional alternating current (AC) technology.
Technical Highlight: In this UHVDC project, dedicated metallic return conductors that eliminate the need for ground electrodes have been deployed for the first time in any 800kV power transmission system, according to information available from GE.
(Photograph is illustrative, and shows the inside view of a typical HVDC converter station)
Related News: Ground broken for Raigarh-Pugalur UHVDC link
