The Hindu : Karnataka News : Two projects to improve voltage stability

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Two projects to improve voltage stability

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 13. Powergrid will soon begin work on two projects at a cost of Rs. 300 crores to improve voltage stability in Bangalore and the rest of the State, the company chairman and managing director, R.P. Singh, said here on Wednesday.

Addressing presspersons on the sidelines of an international workshop, Mr. Singh said the Union Cabinet had approved the projects recently. The work involved upgrading two double-circuit 400 KV lines — one between Nelamangala and Somanahalli, and the other between Raichur and Gooty. "The first project will form a 400-KV ring around Bangalore to improve the voltages here." The second project, he said, would stabilise voltages in the State. "Earlier, we depended on a loop in, loop out system connecting Nagarjuna Sagar to Raichur. But that line was unstable and tripped often. The Raichur-Gooty line will improve matters," he said. Tenders would be called for in a week and efforts would be made to complete the project in two years although the initial target would be 30 months.

Other projects

Karnataka would benefit from a transmission line linking a proposed Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) 2,000 mega watt (MW) project in Orissa with Gulbarga. A high-voltage direct-current line, similar to the Talcher-Kolar line, would be laid. Karnataka would get 600 MW from the project, but the NLC first had to get project clearance from the Centre, Mr. Singh said.

Powergrid also planned a West-South Interconnector, somewhere near Goa, to benefit areas such as Belgaum, he said. The company also planned to finish work on a substation in Mysore by January 2005.

About the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) for rural Karnataka, Mr. Singh said discussions were on with the State on the Rs. 10,000-crore project. He planned to meet the Chief Minister on Friday and hoped that work would begin in a month. Powergrid would not take on the duties of the electricity supply companies (ESCOMs), it would only set up a high-voltage distribution system to improve efficiency and cut line-losses. "If ESCOMs are already doing APDRP work, we will not duplicate it." The Asian Development Bank was `keen' on financing the project, he said. Payback time would be a year, and Powergrid was not worried about payments. "The ESCOMs will do the collection work." Besides, Karnataka never defaulted on payments to Powergrid, he stressed.

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