PGCIL Wins 1,644 Cr. ISTS Project in Rajasthan
Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL or POWERGRID) has received the Letter of Intent (LoI) on 7th March 2023 for a solar energy evacuation project in Rajasthan. This project has been valued at Rs. 1,644 crore.
PGCIL to Develop ISTS-Connected Power Evacuation Project for Solar Energy
In its stock filing dated 9th March 2023, PGCIL stated that it has been declared as the successful bidder for “Transmission System Strengthening Scheme for Evacuation of Power from Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase-II Part-E” through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB).
The aforementioned project has been valued at about Rs. 1,644 crore as per the minutes of the 6th meeting of National Committee on Transmission (NCT) which was held on 30th September 2019.
Scope of Work in the Transmission System Strengthening Project
Scope of work in this project entails the establishment of a 310 Km long 765 KV Double Circuit transmission line from Bhadla-II Pooling Station (PS) to Sikar-II substation in Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,452 crore. Further, two line bays each at Bhadla-II PS and Sikar-II substation for this transmission line will be developed.
One 330 MVAr switchable line reactor and one 240 MVAr switchable line reactor at Bhadla-II, and similar reactors at Sikar-II substation with associated switching equipment will be established under this project.
POWERGRID will execute this project on Build, Own Operate and Maintain (BOOM) basis.
PFC Consulting Ltd. (PFCCL) was the bid coordinator for this project. A completion period of 18 months has been specified for this project.
Initially, bids were invited on 6th March 2020 by PFCCL for this project and it was envisioned to be complete by December 2021. However, the last date for invitation of bids was extended several times. Eventually, On 12th January 2023, PFCCL closed the window for submission of bids for this project.
POWERGRID the Successful Bidder for Multiple Parts of the Scheme
PGCIL has already secured six parts under Phase II of the aforementioned transmission scheme, namely Parts A, B, C, D, F and G.
Parts D and F of “Transmission System Strengthening Scheme for Evacuation of Power from Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase-II” were secured by PGCIL in February 2022, while Part G of the scheme was secured by POWERGRID in March 2022.
About PGCIL: Power Grid Corporation of India is a state-owned transmission company under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. The Gurgaon-headquartered company owns and operates about 90% of the country’s inter-state and inter-region power transmission facilities. In FY-22 PGCIL reported a revenue of Rs. 42,697.90 crore.
