South to draw power from northern grid

New electricity lines to be activated by month-end

Power-starved southern states, including Karnataka, will soon heave a sigh of relief as they will get surplus electricity from northern states without any hitch.

The bounty comes in the backdrop of the Power Grid Corporation Ltd nearing completion of two major connecting transmission lines, which are expected to be commissioned by this month-end.

Construction of the 765-KV line between Kollapur and Narendra (new Dharwad) is complete and ready for commission. Another 765-KV line between Aurangabad and Solapur, which was to be completed by December 15, is nearly finished, much ahead of schedule. Both the project are expected to commission by end of this month, Power Grid interim Chairman and Managing Director I S Jha told Deccan Herald.

A couple of months ago, the Raichur-Sholapur 765-KV single-circuit transmission line was connected with the national grid, thereby achieving the one-nation-one-grid-one-frequency system. Once commissioned, the Kollapur-Narendra and Aurangabad-Solapur lines will be additional lines where from southern states can draw power from north, he said.

Southern states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which were facing severe power shortage, have not been able to procure surplus electricity available in the northern grid due to non-availability of a corridor.

Once these lines are commissioned, southern states will easily get power from northern states, Jha said.

These two lines will help address the problems to a certain extent, said Jha, also Director of Operations in the state-run company.  Besides, the proposed high-capacity transmission line between Raipur in Chhattisgarh and Pugalur in Tamil Nadu will also boost the network in southern India, helping transmit power from not only northern parts of the country but also the north-eastern region, he said. The process of inviting tender for the project is on, and its construction is expected to be complete in another three years, he said.  This transmission link is part of the Centre's plan to build ultra High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) bipoles at 800 KV across the country. The Power Grid has already completed the first phase of its Rs 12,000-crore HVDC transmission line of 6,000 MW capacity between the North-East and Agra.