The COVID-19 related lockdown appears to have had a detrimental effect on the country’s power transmission infrastructure upgrade programme, according to information released by Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
During the first quarter (April to June) of the current fiscal year FY21, much of which was affected by the nationwide lockdown, the target was to add 1,565 ckm of new transmission lines. As against this, actual addition was 1,091 ckm, implying a target achievement of 70 per cent.
In terms of substations, the performance was worse. Vis-à-vis the planned addition of 16,760 MVA of transformation capacity, the actual achievement was 7,390 MVA. This resulted in target achievement of just 44 per cent.
It may be recalled that in FY20 too, power transmission upgrade was quite out of tune with the targets set. In FY20, the target for transmission line addition was 23621 ckm and the achievement was barely 49.4 per cent. The transformation capacity addition drive did better with a target achievement of 83.4 per cent. As against the target of 81,716 MVA, actual addition was 68,230 MVA.
Targets scaled down
The targets for transmission capacity upgrade for FY21 (April 2020 to March 2021) have been substantially scaled down, ostensibly due to the adverse impact of the lockdown.
For FY21, the target for power transmission line addition is 15,791 ckm while that of substation capacity is 63,050 MVA. Both these targets are substantially lower than those set for FY20. In fact, in the case of transformation capacity, the target for FY21 is even lower than the actual achievement recorded in FY20. (See Table 1)
| Table 1: Power Transmission Upgrade: FY20 and FY21 | |||||
| FY20 | FY21 | ||||
| Target | Actual | % ach | Target | ||
| Transmission Lines | ckm | 23,621 | 11,664 | 49.4 | 15,791 |
| Substations | MVA | 81,716 | 68,230 | 83.5 | 63,050 |
What is also worrisome is that if project execution does not improve in the remaining months of the year, FY21 will also see poor target achievement ratio. Already one quarter of the year (25 per cent) has elapsed and the actual performance is not commensurate with the target.
As at the end of the first quarter, only 6.9 per cent of the annual target was attained in the case of transmission lines. With regard to substations, the comparable target attainment was higher at 11.7 per cent.
FY21 Target analysis
One interesting observation is that nearly 62 per cent of the transmission lines targeted for FY21 are of 400kV or above. In fact, 3,531 ckm of 800kV HVDC lines have also been planned in FY21. These will constitute a significant 22.4 per cent of the total lines targeted. It may be mentioned that were no 800kV lines commissioned in FY20. Nearly 2,500 ckm of 765kV lines have been targeted in FY21, to be constructed across all ownership groups—Central government (PGCIL), state utilities and private entities. (See Table 2)
| Table 2: Break-up of FY21 Transmission Line Target (ckm) | |||||
| Central | State | Private | Total | % share | |
| 800kV HVDC | 3,531 | 0 | 0 | 3,531 | 22.4 |
| 500kV HVDC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 765kV AC | 538 | 889 | 1,060 | 2,487 | 15.7 |
| 400kV AC | 1,227 | 1,696 | 839 | 3,762 | 23.8 |
| 220kV AC | 593 | 5,379 | 39 | 6,011 | 38.1 |
| Total | 5,889 | 7,964 | 1,938 | 15,791 | 100.0 |
| % share | 37.3 | 50.4 | 12.3 | 100.0 | — |
State power utilities will be constructing 50.4 per cent of the targeted 15791 ckm of new transmission lines (across all voltage classes) in FY21. The remaining 49.6 per cent will be developed by PGCIL and private companies.
