New Delhi: State-run Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd has fully commissioned India's first Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based HVDC (high voltage direct current) electricity transmission system, the power ministry said on Tuesday. The project strengthens the power system of the southern region of the country, the ministry said.
The PGCIL commissioned Monopole-I of the 320 kV, 2000 MW, Pugalur (Tamil Nadu) Thrissur (Kerala) Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System, it said. It may be recalled that Monopole-II of the project was inaugurated by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on 19th February, 2021 and with the commissioning of Monopole-I, the project has attained its full capacity.
The Pugalur-Thrissur HVDC system, costing Rs 5070 crore, is a part of the Raigarh-Pugalur-Thrissur 6000 MW HVDC system and enables transfer of 2000 MW to Kerala through the VSC HVDC station at Thrissur.
The state-of-the-art VSC Technology has been brought to India for the first time by PGCIL through this Project.
The VSC technology significantly reduces the land requirement compared to the conventional HVDC systems and is particularly suitable for areas, where land is scarce. It also facilitates development of smart grid and improves system resilience under various operating conditions.
A unique feature of this project is the combination of overhead line and underground cable to address the restricted availability of transmission corridor in Kerala. Major HVDC equipment like interface transformers and IGBT-based power convertors, AC equipment such as Gas Insulated Sub-station, switchgear, controls and relay panels have been supplied by factories in India, thereby giving a major boost to the PM's Make in India programme.