Siemens Secures $276 Million Order for Electricity-Transmission Systems from India's Adani Power

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- German electrical and electronics company Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich), together with its Indian subsidiary, Siemens Limited (BSE:500550) (Mumbai), has won a contract worth approximately $276 million from Adani Power Limited (Ahmedabad, Gujarat), a part of Adani Enterprises Limited (BSE:512599) (Ahmedabad, Gujarat) to supply and construct a 1,000-kilometer power transmission network in India capable of delivering 2,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Under the terms of the contract, Siemens AG, the parent company, will take a $132 million share of the deal, with the local company Siemens Limited taking the remaining $144 million.

The power transmission network will be constructed to run between Adani Power's plant in Mundra, Gujarat, and Mohindergarh in the power-starved district of Haryana. The transmission system will employ high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology, which is more energy efficient and environmentally friendly than the traditional alternating current (AC) technology.

Siemens will be responsible for the construction of turnkey terminal stations at both ends of the new bipolar 500-kilovolt (kV) HVDC line, including all the sea and land transportation of equipment, as well as the installation and commissioning of the complete network. In addition, Siemens will install a repeater station and associated electrode stations midway along the line. The major components of the transmission line include 500-kV converter transformers, AC/DC switching equipment, filter equipment, thyristor valves, and other associated mechanical auxiliary equipment.

Adani Power is constructing a 2,640-MW thermal power station in Mundra, known as the Mundra Power Project. Some of the power generated at this plant will be delivered to Mohindergarh in Haryana in north India. Haryana shares borders with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in the east and Rajasthan in the west and south. Haryana is one of the most heavily industrialized states in India, with the city of Gurgaon recognized as a leading center for the information technology and automobile manufacturing industries. Consequently, the area has a high demand for electricity.

The first phase of the Mundra Power Project will consist of two turbines, each with a capacity of 330 MW. The first of these turbines is scheduled for commissioning in June 2009. The second phase will consist of two more turbines, each with a capacity of 330 MW, while the final phase will comprise the fifth and sixth turbines, each with a capacity of 660 MW. The first phase of the HVDC transmission project will be commissioned in February 2011, followed by the second phase in July 2011.

The transmission project is the third HVDC project secured by Siemens in India in recent years. In 2007, Siemens and consortium partner Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BSE:500103) (New Delhi) was awarded the contract to construct a 780-kilometer HVDC transmission link between Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The final commissioning of the project is scheduled for November 2009.

The first transmission project undertaken by Siemens in India was the "East-South" line, which stretches about 1,450 kilometers from the Talcher power plant in the eastern state of Orissa to Bangalore in the south. First commissioned in 2003 with a capacity of 2,000 MW, this line was upgraded in 2006 to handle a transmission capacity of 2,500 MW.

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