Substation capacity addition in the first eleven months of FY24 was up 9.3 per cent, year-on-year.
According to recent statistics issued by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), India added 54,493 MVA of substation capacity in the first eleven months (April to February) of FY24, which was 9.3 per cent higher than the comparable 54,425 MVA in FY23.
However, the actual addition in April-February FY24 met just 81 per cent of the 73,609 MVA targeted for the period.
While Central and state government utilities fell short of the targeted addition in the first eleven months of FY24, private sector entities actually surpassed the planned addition.
In the period under study, private entities added 14,000 MVA of substation capacity that was significantly higher than the 10,320 MVA targeted for the period.
On the other hand, Central and state government utilities could meet only 75 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively, of the planned addition. (See table).
Most of the actual addition in the April-February period of FY24 came from state utilities that accounted for 52 per cent of the total capacity added. The Central government sector and the private sector had a share of roughly 24 per cent each.
It is interesting to observe that private sector entities had a much higher share of 24 per cent in actual substation capacity addition in FY24 (April to February) than the corresponding 9.2 per cent in the same period of FY23.
As mentioned earlier, the total substation capacity addition in FY24 (April to February) was 9.3 per cent in the same period of FY23.
Much of this growth was attributed to private sector entities that added 14,000 MVA in the first eleven months of FY24 as against a much smaller 5,000 MVA in the like period of FY23.
State government utilities did well, commissioning 31,173 MVA in the April-February period of FY24 as against 29,835 MVA in the same period of FY23 – a growth of 4.5 per cent.
The Central government sector, however, was more subdued in FY24 achieving 14,320 MVA, 27 per cent lower than 19,590 MVA added in the first eleven months of FY23.
Voltage class
The best performance came from the 765kV that saw 18,000 MVA of actual addition in the first eleven months of FY24 – 50 per cent higher than the 12,000 MVA added in the same period of FY23.
By the same comparison, substation capacity addition at the 400kV level was 11.2 per cent higher while that in the 220kV class was 17.1 per cent lower.
It is interesting to note that of the 59,493 MVA of substation capacity added in FY24 (April-February), the 765kV class accounted for 30.3 per cent that was higher than the share of around 28 per cent held by the 220kV category.
Target for FY24
The official target for substation capacity addition for the whole of FY24 stands at 78,109 MVA. With only 59,493 MVA added in the first eleven months (or just around 76 per cent of the target), the annual target achievement looks arduous.
Also read: Substation Capacity Addition Falls 19 Per Cent In 9MFY24
Featured photograph (source: GE T&D India) shows the 220kV Sahupuri substation built by GE T&D India for Uttar Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (UPPTCL).
