New Power Transmission Benchmarks for AAB-BHEL 1,700-Kilometer Indian Line

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (BSE:532898) (PGCIL) (Gurgaon, India) has awarded ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) (Zurich, Switzerland) a $900 million contract for the delivery of an ultrahigh-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission system.

The 1,700-kilometer transmission line will supply hydropower from the mountainous northeast region of India to the 90 million people in the central India's Agra region. The northeast region has major hydropower resources spread over a large area with the load centers often located thousands of kilometers away. There is now a plan to create pooling points in the region to collect power generated from a number of hydropower stations and transmit it through power super highways to major urban load centers.

The new 800-kilovolt (kV) UHVDC line will have a converter capacity of 800 megawatts (MW), which it is claimed is the highest capacity ever built and the first with a multi-terminal ultrahigh voltage link with three converter stations.

Two "sending" stations will convert power from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) for transmission over a single power line and will deliver electrical power to a third receiving station in Agra, where it will be converted back to AC for distribution to end users. The power line will pass through the "chicken neck area," which is a very narrow piece of terrain that is 22 kilometers long and 18 kilometers wide in West Bengal on the borders of Nepal and Bangladesh.

The use of ultrahigh-voltage transmission assists in minimizing losses and improving efficiency. Using a multi-terminal solution compared to running separate power links produces significant cost reductions.

Peter Leupp, head of ABB's power systems division said that HVDC technology was ideally suited for transmission of power over long distances where space is limited. "This project will set many new global benchmarks and emphasizes ABB's leadership in HVDC," he claimed.

ABB will partner with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BSE:500103) (New Delhi) in executing the turnkey project covering design, system engineering, supply, installation and commissioning. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.

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