Power Grid organized Gridtech 2013 an exhibition and concurrent summit which proved to be an excellent global networking opportunity for exhibitors, power utilities, manufacturers, research institutions, policy makers, academicians, consultants, visitors and delegates. It has provided an opportunity to all companies to showcase their transmission, distribution, smart grid, renewable integration, load dispatch and communication expertise and know-how as well as to identify business opportunities in the electricity market worldwide. The power sector in India is all charged up to take the Indian economy to the next level. To begin with, the Government has initiated several policies to promote and garner investments in the power sector. Today the Power sector ranks sixth among the leading sectors of the Indian economy, and has attracted USD 4.6 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since 2000. The working group on power for formulation of the 12th five year plan has estimated total fund requirements of Rs. 13,72,580 crores for the power sector. Even Though a number of policy initiatives have been put in place, the task of transforming the power sector is yet to be achieved. To give a view of different initiatives which are being taken or planned team WCI present below the excerpts of the reflections presented during the show.
Power sector is under explosive growth wherein 400 transformers of 500 MVA capacities are being commissioned that means 765 kv systems with 200,000 MVA capacity is under pipeline. We have already commissioned 120 units having 60,000 MVA and another 300 units are within the pipeline, which will be commissioned in the next three years. This year we have commissioned 36,000 MVA transmission capacity and around 6,000 km of 800 kv transmission systems. So there is an explosive drive taking place in the power sector for instance in case of reactors we are installing 1,100 of 800 kv reactors with the total capacity of more than 80,000 MVAR. Out of which about 200 units are being commissioned and rest 900 units will be commissioned in the next 3 years. Earlier we used to listen about the countries who had 800 kv GIS systems but now 16 numbers of 800 kv GIS are under installation other than this 52 number of 765 kv substation are under construction, 16 have been completed and rest 36 are in the pipeline. This is a real unprecedented kind of growth, which we are witnessing. In the Cigre conference too it was said that whole world is now engaged in 765 kv because of power growth. Similarly 800 kv HVDC system is under construction which we are targeting to commission it by March or June 2014. Then, 800 kv multi-terminal project is in the pipeline and this system will carry 8,000 MW (6,000 MW + 33% over load) of load in one go. Another 800 kv HVDC is under installation from Champa polling station to Kurukshetra and likewise many more are coming. This you can say as semi conductor technology revolution for India. It is my proud moment to tell you that out of 40 papers that are selected for the Cigre conference wherein 60% of the paper are on new technology pertaining to 1,200 kv this shows that how much the country is engrossed in 1,200 kv technology. We initiated the 1,200 kv idea in 2006 where the cost involved was Rs. 300 to 400 crores. Out of the total Rs. 100 crores was pumped in by Power Grid and rest Rs. 300 crores came from equipment manufactures manufacturer. I am happy to tell you that this (PPP) public private partnership model is by far the most successful model in the country. Each of the manufacturers have volunteered for the 1,200 kv project and spent around Rs. 20-30 crores on R&D to develop the technology for which the trials are going on. The transmission line of 1,200 kv from Wardha-Aurangabad is also under construction which is initially charged with 400 kv. I am confident that in the next 2-5 years to come this technology will mature more and we will have commercial projects of 1,200 kv.
Further adding on the developments he said “another thing which I would like to tell you is that 765 kv double circuit technology which was only present in South Korea. Personally, to adopt this technology we had apprehensions but due to the constraints of right of way we had no other options. You all will be surprised to know that 15,000 km of 800 kv double circuit are under construction and each line will carry 5,000 MW of power. We have already installed 2,000 km of 800 kv double circuit which are working fine. Earlier when we were using the 400 kv line we used to get the over load by 420 kv but in 800 kv there is no overload and line doesn’t trip. We are also in the process to establish the National Transmission Asset Management Center wherein all our substations will be virtually manned. The fiber optic network is being laid for the high-resolution cameras that are being installed at our sub-stations. The 1st phase is planned to be completed by the end of 2013 or latest by March 2014. It will be a marvel in the world that no substation is manned and it will be linked with helicopter patrolling. Today we have 100,000 km of transmission line and another 100,000 km is under construction so in the future it will be difficult to patrol such a massive network with manpower. Home & Defence ministry has accepted the proposal for air patrolling of transmission line for which a 15,000 km of pilot project has been ordered. Another development that is taking place is the maintenance through helicopter, we have done a pilot project in Kashmir when there was heavy snowfall and the area was unapproachable. Our engineers were dropped there and within 6 hours the lines were repaired. Further, on the renewable side our Government is working hard in association with Government of Germany for suitable integration of new technologies. We are confident that there will be a sea change in the next 2-3 years.”
Power Grid has done a great job in achieving the 11th plan target with the huge multiplier effect. It is well positioned now as we move forward in 12th plan with the expenditure of more than Rs. 100,000 crores, of which Rs. 20,000 crores has been spent. The Indian power industry has to move forward parallel in this growth trajectory. With this I would like to highlight 2 points. First, the smart grid project which has been launched by Power Grid, it’s a great initiative and what we make greater out of it is when it will be taken to the humble consumers and make it profitable for them. The ultimate implement-ability of the smart grid will depend on its financial viability, which is in the hands of the customer for whom it is designed to serve. Therefore, I would like to encourage the Power Grid to look into models, which can be hugely beneficial for the country. Apart from this Indian electrical industry is facing the challenges in terms of the competition from other countries and to beat that they have to have some game plan. Probably, they need to think on different line and fine tune themselves. I wish them all the very best to be the leader and the driver in the growth of the country. Lastly the history belongs to us, geography belongs to us and we are the third largest nation in terms of power generation. We have a great future ahead.
PGCIL has always been in the forefront in adopting & promoting new technologies and taking up R&D activities in new areas all time to address new challenges, which are confronting power system. PGCIL is also recognizing the need for full-scale deployment of VAMS technology and undertaking the implementation & synchronization of technology in wide areas. This is being done under unified real time state measurement project, which also includes creation of reliable voice and data communication networks involving optical fiber communication network. As stated by Mr. Nayak that the enormous developments are being made in HVDC systems. In fact the 1,200 kv project would be the path breaking step in the history of power sector. Another area, which we need to promote is the use of GIS in the country because it requires 30% less land as compared to conventional substation. Initially there was quite a high price difference between conventional & GIS system but now the price difference has come down. It’s a very good technical solution especially in hilly areas as well as in urban areas. The electricity act 2003 has brought in profound changes in electricity spread in the country like unbundling of vertically integrated state electricity boards, implementation of open access in power transmission and liberalization of generation sector. The phenomenal growth of private sector generation and creation of open market for electricity have brought in its own uncertainties. Large numbers of generation projects are coming in with no knowledge of firm beneficiaries. The availability is compounded by uncertainties like generation capacity, commissioning schedules, fuel availabilities, integration of renewable and problems in implementation of transmission related projects like land acquisition, right of way etc. All these factors have made development of transmission system a challenging task, which is a vital lead in the electricity supply chain. Another aspect that’s going to affect our power system is the interconnection with the neighboring countries. Integration of Indian electricity board with countries such as Bhutan, Nepal will lead to the optimization of electricity resources on a large scale and provide additional benefits and opportunities in buying and selling. In this direction the trans-mission interconnection between India & Bhopal is progressively implemented as part of the transmission system for creation of power from hydroelectric project in Bhutan. During mid last year the country faced 2 major grid failures leading to collapse of Northern region grid in the first instance and then the whole grid. These are unfortunate incidences, which have warned us about the complexity of the grid and steps required to make it secure and reliable.
To meet the growing demand in the country we have fixed the target of adding 88,000 MW generation capacity in the 12th plan. And, we would like to inform you that in the first year (2012-13) of the 12th plan itself 20,600 MW of generation capacity has been commissioned. This is few megawatt higher than what we have commissioned in the first year of the last plan. This shows that we have firmly established ourselves to add about 20,000 MW every year. I expect that 88,000 MW, which has to be added in 5 years, we will achieve it well before having the same pace. Along with this estimation and projection of generation capacity in the country we have also being planning commensurate addition in transmission and distribution. The inter-regional transmission capacities in the current plan will see the addition of 36,000 MW and we will bring up the inter-regional capacity to 66,000 MW, by the end of 12th plan. Currently our grid, which is the largest grid in the world has about 250,000 ckms of network of 400 kv, 765 kv, AC, HVDC systems and so on. Power Grid system transfers more than 50% of the electricity in the country. In the 12th plan we have planned 100,000 ckms of transmission lines addition, 270,000 MVA of AC transformation capacities. Power Grid will separately implement 11 high capacity transmission corridors basically with the view to transferring power from generating states to the load sectors. Power Grid’s establishment of 1,200 kv test stations is a phenomenal step in the power sector. Apart from looking at the conventional generation of power we are also laying emphasis on utilizing lot of renewable energy sources in the country. In 12th plan, we expect to have huge capacity addition from renewable resources as of now we have around 27,000 MW of capacity available in the country and in these 5 years we expect it to be doubled, so roughly 30,000 MW of the addition will be made. Actually, there is a huge challenge of integrating all these power into the grid. But, a good thing is that, the Power Grid has realized it very early and they came up with the comprehensive scheme of green energy corridors to identify that what needs to be done in terms of inter-state and intra-state transmission capacities which has to be developed. The total outlay of the project is over Rs. 42,000 crores and the ministry is now considering on funding these projects – may be through international institution or ADB. We are also in talks with German Government not only for funding even for the exchange of information and ideas. In distribution segment also we are making the efforts to see that reliable and qualitative power should reach to consumer. Smart grid is one thing that we are talking about for sometime. The ministry has also set-up Indian smart grid task force, which will help in developing the smart grid projects all over. We are in the process of rolling out 14 pilot plants for smart grids at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,500 crores. This will cover lot of attributes of the smart grid like smart metering, peak load management, power quality management, quality grid etc. We expect that with the rolling out of these pilot projects we will be in a position to test the efficiency of the technology that is involved and to assess the scalability and the viability of these projects. One of the things that we observed is that in power sector the expenditure on the R&D is insignificant. An estimated expenditure on R&D out of the total expenditure in the 11th plan shows that only 0.5% was spent on these activities. R&D is an important part of power sector development therefore we are urging the utilities to spend at least 1% of the total expenditure on R&D which we believe will provide big boost.
