Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (Powergrid), a Maharatna CPSU under Ministry of Power, Government of India, has commissioned Monopole-I of the ± 320 kV, 2000 Mega-Watt (MW), Pugalur (Tamil Nadu) - Thrissur (Kerala) Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System on June 8, 2021. This project strengthens the power system of the southern region of the country. It may be recalled that Monopole-II of the project was inaugurated by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on February 19 and with the commissioning of Monopole-I, the project has attained its full capacity.
The Pugalur-Thrissur HVDC system, costing `5,070 crore, is a part of the Raigarh-Pugalur-Thrissur 6,000 MW HVDC system and enables the transfer of 2,000 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 POWERGRID 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 the development of a smart grid and improves system resilience under various operating conditions. A unique feature of this project is the combination of overhead lines and underground cables to address the restricted availability of the 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 Prime Minister’s Make In India programme. A significant part of the design, engineering, testing and commissioning for this first-time VSC project has been done in India, aligned to the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
