Mr. I S Jha, Director (Projects), Power Grid, during the Gridtech 2013 gave the fruitful presentation enumerating on what Indian power grid is today, a glance on its growth, medium and long term plans, the emerging requirements to improve the technology in long term as well as improving the performance of the grid. Below are the snapshots of the presentation.

The total installed capacity today is 215,000 MW and major consumption is dealt by thermal power i.e. 68%. One major change that can be noticed is the contribution of renewable has increased to 12% and new thinking is going on this front. Hydro is going down due to some of the challenges that are going on. The peak demand is 135,000 MW and per capita consumption is 880 kwh and this is a very important signal that where we have to go. The present transmission networks what we have today are not less than any grid in the world. Any advanced technology that is being used in other countries also exists here. In the last year’s presentation 765 kv was just 1,200 ckms but today it stands at 6,500 ckms. The 400 kv line which is the backbone of the power sector stands about 115,800 ckms and 220 kv is about 140,000 ckms. We are working on HVDC system from 1991 and are on the leading front. The highest capacity in HVDC is the ±500 kv, 2,500 MW Ballia-Bhiwadi HVDC project another is ±500 kv Bi-Pole HVDC transmission system from Mundra to Mohindargarh. Now we have HVDC back to back 7 in number (3000 MW) to get the inter region connectivity. The FSC (fixed series compensation) initiated are 33 in number and TSCS (Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation) are 7 in number. The Indian power sector is being demarked into 5 regions i.e. Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern and Northeast. Since 10th year plan we felt the need of integration of the regions due to the uneven distribution of the resources. We have started with HVDC back to back overlaying inter connections which resulted in the integration of the region which is now called new grid. This grid is quite big with the installed capacity of 160,000 MW. Another part is the Southern region, which has installed capacity of 55,000 MW, which we are now planning to integrate with the Northern grid.

Geographically the Indian grid is also interconnected with the neighboring countries. This provides us the huge advantage in terms of cost and resources. To give you an overview of the interconnections that India has with the neighboring countries are:

India – Bhutan

- Existing: 1,480 MW from Tala (1,020 MW), Chukha (336 MW) and Kurichu (60 MW) connected with 400 kv, 220 kv and 132 kv lines respectively.
- On-going: 400 kv inter-connection and Alipurduar HVDC station (3,000 MW) in progress for on-going Punatsangchu (1,200 MW) project.
- Future: Masterplan made for evacuation of about 11,500 MW (from 14 HEP) by 2020 and 26,500 MW (from 75 HEPs) by 2030.

India – Nepal

Existing: About 120-150 MW power exchange under radial mode through various 132 kv, 33 kv and 11 kv links.
On-going: 400 kv Muzaffarpur (India) and Dhalkebar (Nepal) interconnection in progress.
Future: High capacity transmission interconnection is being planned for evacuation from future about 20,000 MW hydel projects in Nepal.

India – Bangladesh

India (Baharampur) – Bangladesh (Bheramara) 400 kv interconnection with 500 MW HVDC back-to-back links at Bheramara under construction. Expected to be commissioned in July, 2013.

India – Sri Lanka

Feasibility study carried out for +400 kv, 1000 MW HVDC bipole interconnection between India (Madurai) and Sri Lanka (Anuradhapura).

Medium term growth plans (5-6 years) and growth drivers

The growth of the country is driven by growing population, urbanization, rapid economic growth and increasing standard of living. Citing an example he told, “our per capita consumption is 880 kwh as compared to the world which is 2900 kwh. Seeing the Indian demographics it should have been 2000 kwh of per capita consumption which means we need an installed capacity of 450,000 MW. But as of today we have 215,000 MW which means that there is a need to double up the installed capacity in the present situation.” But one thing is certain that the growth is bound to happen for which the journey has begun. In the 10th plan we have added 20,000 – 22,000 MW of power whereas in 11th plan it was 60,000 MW but in the 12th plan the target is to add 80,000 MW, which can be achieved much before the time by the way we are performing. On top of that additional 30,000 – 40,000 MW of power from other resources is to be added during the same period.

Another driving factor is the uneven distribution of energy resources. India has total hydro energy potential of 150,000 MW out of which 30% has been harnessed so far because it is majorly concentrated in Northern and Eastern hilly regions. Similarly the coal reserve of approx 267 billion tons is mostly concentrated in Central and Eastern part of the country and to harness that we have to set up a transmission network from there to all the parts.

Integration of large scale renewable is one major thing that has made its inroad in the growth trajectory. In recent years conducive environment policies, regulatory framework, fiscal & financial incentives have accelerated the penetration of renewable energy (RE) generation. The share of renewable capacity has increased from 2% (2002) to 12% (2013) over the last decade. The envisaged capacity addition through renewable is about 30-40 GW in 12th Plan (2012-17) period. This generation is characterized by intermittency and variability, which requires massive transmission network and control infrastructure to integrate into grid. The Power Grid has done the detailed analysis of this and has proposed the concept of green corridors. Total outlay of Rs. 40,000 crores is required to develop the infrastructure and if the plan goes smoothly then we can generate 30,000 – 40,000 MW of power additionally. This Rs. 40,000 crores will be the add-on budget over the Rs. 100,000 crores, which was planned and is contributed by Power Grid and other financial institutions.

The consideration of future transmission planning is an important aspect. The role of ISTS (inter-state transmission system) to transfer power has to be increased. Earlier in 2003 the 60% of the power was distributed in intra state and 30% was interstate. With the emergence of private players the interstate power transfer has been improved and in 12th year plan out of 80,000 MW, 55,000 MW is attributed to the private players. The economy model says that all sub stations conceived by the private sector mostly becomes inter-state. The need of long distance transmission system must dealt with the following points like minimum use of land and right-of-way, optimal cost per MW transmission, optimal transmission losses, controllability at grid level, adequate margins to cater trading, contingencies and implementation of equipment availability and manpower in order to execute the plans smoothly.

Expansion Programme for next 5-6 years

• Transmission Line: 109,440 ckms

765 kv – 27,000 ckms
400 kv – 38,000 ckms
220 kv – 35,000 ckms
HVDC – 9,440 ckms

• Substations: about 283,000 MVA

765 kv – 149,000 MVA
400 kv – 45,000 MVA
220 kv/132 kv – 76,000 MVA
HVDC – 13,000 MVA

• Dynamic Compensation at 16 locations at 400 kv level (each + 400 MVAR)

Few major transmission projects undertaken by Power Grid

Creation of 11 high capacity transmission corridors for 55 IPPs (55,000 MW) – about Rs. 65,000 crores (USD 118 billion)
Transmission system for 6 UMPPs (24,000 MW) – Rs. 29,000 crores (USD 53 billion)
Transmission system for DVC generation projects (5,000 MW) – Rs. 11,000 crores (USD 20 billion)
Transmission system for evacuation of power from NER & Bhutan – Rs. 11,000 crores (USD 20 billion)

The total investment envisaged in 12th plan attributed in transmission is Rs. 180,000 crores (USD 33 billion) and in distribution Rs. 306,000 crores (including smart grid having Rs. 10,000 crores – USD 56 billion).

The above points that are being highlighted demands long term emerging requirements wherein adoption of latest technological advances in grid have to be integrated so that major issues like acquisition of land and right of way can be addressed. Modular development of systems has to be developed, to control & be flexible in power transfer across the geographies. In case of smart grid real time measurement and monitoring of dynamic behavior has to be adopted. And last but not the least renewable penetration target across the country has to be achieved.