Alstom Awarded $500 Million Contract for UHVDC for 1,365-Kilometer Energy Highway

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Earlier this year, it was reported that India faced a $75 billion shortfall in developing and refurbishing national power transmission network. Then the great blackout came, leaving half the country without power. And the grid came under renewed scrutiny for smart grid solutions and cohesive power transmission management. For related information, see August 27, 2012, article -India's 200,000 Megawatt National Grid System Needs 'Political Will' to Succeed.

Alstom S.A. (Paris, France) has a range of ongoing projects in the country's power sector, from generation to transmission and distribution. The company has just been awarded a $500 million contract by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (Gurgaon, India) to connect Champa in Chhattisgarh to Khurukshetra in Haryana in northern India. The long-distance transmission line will stretch 1,365 kilometers and will use 800-kilovolt (kV), 3,000-megawatt (MW) ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) technology.

The UHVDC technology will cater to the bulk power transfer requirement on the energy highway from Chhattisgarh, a hub of independent power producer thermal power generation, to the load center in the northern region. The technology allows for the clean transfer of power, with reduced power loss, over long distances when compared to conventional methods.

The scope of the contract will include the delivery of 800-kV thyristor valves, 32 converter transformers, 400/220-kV gas-and-air insulated switchgear and substation equipment, communication, and supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA). The scope of work also includes overall project management, studies, design, engineering, training, manufacture, civil works at site, erection, site testing and commissioning.

The main Alstom units involved in the project will be the high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) center of excellence in Stafford (United Kingdom) and the Alstom Grid India units at Noida Hosur, Padappai, Pallavarum and Vadodara in India.

Reaffirming the company's continued presence in the supergrid field and technological advances, Gregoire Poux-Guillame, Alstom grid president, said that the company's recent advances in HVDC in 800-kV line-commutated-converter or voltage-source-converter technology demonstrated a commiment to the ultra-high-voltage energy sector.

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