Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) of India, was incorporated on October 23, 1989 under the Companies Act, 1956, with the mission of “Establishment and operation of regional and national power grids to facilitate transfer of electric power within and across the regions with reliability, security and economy on sound commercial principles”. POWERGRID was conferred with the coveted ‘Navratna’ status by the Government of India in May, 2008 in recognition of its contribution to the Indian power sector and the potential to become a global power major.
In the two decades of its existence, POWERGRID has scaled up its transmission network manifold to cater to the
increased generation capacity addition. The Company has established a transmission network of about 82,336 circuit kms and 135 sub-stations having more than 91,945 MVA of transformation capacity, which was only 22,220 circuit kms and 42 substations with transformation capacity of 12,200 MVA at the time of start of commercial business, i.e. in 1992-93. In FY 2009-10, POWERGRID achieved a turnover of Rs.7,504 crore and net profit of Rs.2,041 crore, an increase of 22% and 21% respectively over the previous year.
An investment of about Rs. 55,000 crore is planned during the Eleventh Plan for developing the national grid including inter-regional transmission systems, system strengthening schemes, transmission system for evacuation of power from generation projects under central sector, and assigned Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs).
GRIDTECH 2011, the three day international event and conference was organized by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), with the support of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India and in association with CBIP & IEEMA during April 19-21, 2011 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Union Minister of Power Sh. Sushilkumar Shinde in the presence of Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Power Sh. K.C. Venugopal, Sh. B.K. Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission, Sh. P. Uma Shankar, Secretary (Power), Sh. S.K. Chaturvedi, CMD, POWERGRID and other dignitaries.
GRIDTECH 2011 proved to be a truly International Exhibition cum Conference showcasing new technologies in transmission & distribution and synergic areas like load despatch, telecommunications, application software etc. from reputed International and National manufacturers/ suppliers.
GRIDTECH 2011 provided a unique opportunity for the power utilities, manufacturers, research institutions, policy makers, academicians, consultants etc. to gain exposure to state-of-the-art products and technologies like 1200kV, 800kV HVDC, FACTS, GIS, Superconductors, Smart Grid, substation automation, compact lines, power system protection system, modern distribution management, renewable energy sources, integrated communication system etc.
About 67 technical papers on emerging technologies in the field of transmission, distribution, smart grid and communication were presented by national and international experts during the conference. About 120 exhibitors showcased their state-of the- art products in the field of transmission, distribution and grid management. Huge numbers of professionals from national/international manufacturers, utilities, academic/financial institutions, policy makers etc attended the event.
Sh. Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power, in his inaugural speech said: “An event like GRIDTECH assumes increasing importance in a country like India where power shortages continue primarily due to the fact that the growth in demand for power has out-stripped the growth in availability of power”.
He proudly stated that “Globally companies are willing to come to India and establish their units and that shows India’s growth potential and the confidence that we have created in the minds of the investors and yes in India the investment scene is very strong. We have great opportunities in India whether in distribution, manufacturing, capacity expansion and transmission.”
In his speech during the GRIDTECH 2011 Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi, Member – Planning Commission highlighted couple of issues for consideration for the power sector.
“The first and foremost point is about the growth, we had planned 9% growth earlier and now we are planning and hoping anything between 9-10%. If this level of growth has to be achieved the investment in the infrastructure has to be huge. The total planned investment in the next 5 years is about a trillion dollar and based on the past experience power sector generally occupies around 35-40% of this which is around 300 to 350 billion dollar. We are already talking of plan size of 100,000 mega watt in 12th plan for which we need to have expansion in transmission capacities in the coming years and this will require resources along with effective execution of the projects both by the Power Grid and also by the other associates and the state government. Both sub transmission sector and interstate transmission will have to be taken up effectively.”
“The second major challenge is an opportunity today. Earlier state government utilities didn’t have the resources so they were not been able to invest in the transmission. Today the emergence of private sector has probably changed the way the transmission is done. The power sector has itself planned earlier in the 11th plan to go for about 14 lines and 6 of these lines are taken up for private sector investment by the ministry of power. In the 12th plan I hope that opportunity which comes for the investments at the national/ state level will enable faster development of the transmission sector because it will be unfortunate that as the huge power projects come in, the transmission capacity is not available so this is again a major opportunity which I foresee in the future.”
“Third major issue is the adopting of right technology. I was really happy to hear power grid has taken this initiative of experimenting with the new 1200 kV lines. We hope that with this technology they will be able to transfer power at far more competitive rates with far lesser losses. I hope that in the 12th plan they are able to start operation of 1200 kV line which enables them to reduce losses.” He concluded by saying, “It is also important that as we develop the transmission sector we should also focus on slightly not so financially well doing distribution sector in the whole scenario of efficient technology improvements.”
Mr. S.K. Chaturvedi, CMD, Power Grid enlightened the audience with his thoughts behind doing the 2 day conference along with Gridtech 2011 and briefing them with outline of future plans at Power Grid, he said “This conference will help us to identify the strategies and implementation of suitable technologies in the field of transmission, distribution, load dispatch and communication in the Indian power system for the overall interest of this sector.”
“Electricity in the present era is assumed to play a very significant role in everyone’s life and it is also a prime mover in economic growth and is vital for sustainability of the modern economy. If Indian economy has to grow at the rate of 8- 9% growth then power sector has to grow at higher level than this. Thus government of India has accorded the highest priority to this sector with the view to ensure the supply of power to all by 2012. Today the country has an installed capacity of about 172 GW which was only about 1370 MW at the time of independence; it is not a bigachievement, we need to add about 500 GW in the next 20 years to meet the projected demand of about 520 GW by 2027. However, along with massive capacity addition, development of adequate transmission, sub-transmission and distribution network with efficient control and monitoring system are must for the effective fostering of our systems and serving the consumers with quality power, security and reliability at affordable prices.
On the work done by Power Grid, he highlighted, “Towards developing transmission system, Power Grid – the central transmission utility has already established about 82,570 Km of transmission line, 135 extra high voltage sub-stations and national grid with internal capacity of about 22,400 MW. It operates the EHV transmission network with an availability of more than 99.9%. Power Grid has a grand plan to expand the transmission network across the country. In this direction lined, high capacity transmission corridors mainly comprising of 765kv double circuit ac, ± 800 kV, 6000 MW HVDC system. This then facilitates transfer of power to various generation sources to different load centers at far of locations with reliability and security.
Stressing on the sustainable growth and importance of technology, he added, “Considering the requirement for the development of environmental friendly transmission network and meeting the future power requirement Power Grid has given major thrust towards seamless integration of new and efficient technologies to achieve sustainable growth. The major initiative taken in above areas are maximizing the utilization of existing infrastructure, optimization of right of way, reduction in land requirement for sub-stations, protection of wildlife and flora & fauna in the forest areas, automation and remote operational sub stations, phase wise development of environmental friendly high capacity corridors etc. Therefore, considering the large growth of power demand and increase of complexities, it will be difficult to sustain with this conventional technologies and innovations, so the adoption of new technologies is inevitable. In this direction many important technologies are already being adopted in Indian power system. However, still there is lot to be done keeping in view the worldwide development; therefore it is felt that emerging technologies are exhibited at one place for awareness and appreciation of all concerns.”