Southern power grid to be integrated with national grid by early 2014

September 12, 2013

The southern power grid is expected to be integrated with the national grid by early 2014. To connect the southern grid with the national grid, Power Grid has been constructing an 800 kV transmission link between Raichur in Karnataka and Sholapur in Maharashtra.

Currently, the inter-regional transmission capacity between the West and South is 1,500 MW. With the construction of transmission lines between Maharashtra and Karnataka, the capacity is expected to increase to 5,000 MW.

There are situations around the year when the northern grid or western grid is generating surplus power. Because it is not integrated with the national grid, this surplus cannot be tapped by the southern grid. Once it is synchronised with the national grid, it will help in supplying electricity from power-surplus to deficient states like Tamil Nadu.

Except the southern grid, all the other four grids have been connected since August 2006 and have a single frequency. The southern grid is currently linked to the national grid through high voltage direct current transmission line and has a different frequency.