The Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated POWERGRID’s 320 kV 2000 MW Pugalur (Tamil Nadu) – Thrissur (Kerala) HVDC project in presence of Hon’ble Union Minister of State (I/C) (Power, New & Renewable Energy) & Minister of State (Skill Development & Entrepreneurship) Shri R. K. Singh, Hon’ble Governor of Kerala, Mr. Arif Mohammad Khan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan and senior officials of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, State Govt. of Kerala and POWERGRID on 19 February, 2021. The event was held over video conference.
The Pugalur-Thrissur HVDC system, costing Rs. 5070 crore, is part of the Raigarh-Pugalur-Thrissur 6000 MW HVDC system and enables transfer of 2000 MW to Kerala through the HVDC station at Thrissur. The state-of-the-art Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) Technology has been brought to India for the first time by POWERGRID through this project. The VSC technology significantly reduces land requirement compared to conventional HVDC systems and is particularly suitable for Kerala, 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 conductor for transmission of power. POWERGRID optimised the right of way requirement through innovative tower design and use of cable.
Major HVDC equipments like interface transformers and IGBT-based power convertors, AC equipments 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.
