Power Grid Corp. of India gets US$63.6m upgrade for power transmission grid

It has acquired three large static var compensators.

In order to cover the burgeoning growth in demand for electrical power in India and to improve the stability of the power grid, the Indian power supplier and grid operator Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is modernising its high-voltage grid.

Siemens supported PGCIL on this task with the design, engineering, installation and commissioning of three large Static Var Compensators of the SVC Classic series with a total order value of EUR 60 million.

The first and largest of the three SVC systems went into operation at the Ludhiana substation in the Indian state of Punjab in November 2016, followed by a second SVC with a slightly smaller reactive power control range at the Kankroli substation in Rajasthan. This one went into operation in December 2016. The third system at the New Wanpoh station in the state of Kashmir is due to follow in 2017.

The three 400-kV SVC systems at the Ludhiana (-400/+600 MVAr), Kankroli (-300/+400 MVAr) and New Wanpoh (-200/+300 MVAr) substations not only provide inductive or capacitive reactive power for the high-voltage grid in normal static operation. Depending on the grid fault situation, they also dynamically supply the reactive power required in order to reliably counteract grid undervoltages or overvoltages in the shortest possible time. The SVC systems also provide the reactive power to enable the transmission voltage in the grid and in the substations to be maintained at an optimum value. The SVCs thus enhance the transient and dynamic stability of the power supply grid.