The Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) on Tuesday said the project to connect the southern grid with the national network is expected to complete by next month.
“The project to connect the southern grid with national grid is on schedule and would be done in January 2014,” Power Grid Chairman and Managing Director R N Nayak told reporters here.
Work is continuing on the 800-KV circuit between Raichur in Karnataka and Sholapur in Maharashtra. Once the works of the corridor are complete, the surplus power in northern grid or western grid can be transferred to southern grid which will help meet the electricity crises in southern states.
Currently, the inter-region transfer capacity between the western and southern regions is 1,500 MW.
The new transmission lines between Karnataka and Maharashtra would push it up to 5,500 MW, boosting the power-starved southern region, the only grid that remains isolated from the rest of the nation, he said.
There have been several instances in recent days that despite having surplus power at northern grid or western region it could not be transferred to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as the southern region is not linked with national grid. But the situation will change as the integration work is likely to be completed by early next year, he said.