PTC signs Agreement for Indo-Nepal Transmission line.
09 December 2002
Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd. (PTC), an entity that is making great strides in furtherance of its aim to be the front runner in developing a power market in India, has taken a major step forward in its concomitant role as the nodal agency to deal with matters relating to exchange of power between India and Nepal. PTC has entered into an agreement with POWERGRID for construction of the Indian portion of a 132kV Double Circuit line between Anandnagar in Uttar Pradesh and Butwal in Nepal to enhance the quantum of Indo-Nepal Power Exchange. The agreement, first of its kind in the country entered between a Trading Company and Central Transmission Utility, committing PTC to pay future usage charges for the transmission line to be constructed, operated & maintained by POWERGRID, was signed on last week at New Delhi. The agreement shall remain operative till March 2017, with a provision for extension.
Power exchange between the two countries has been taking place through about a score of tie lines, mostly at 11 KV and 33 KV levels along the border with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Bulk power transfer has thus not been possible with Nepal, unlike with Bhutan with whom PTC is already trading around 400 MWs of power. To overcome this constraint, three 132 KV Indo-Nepal lines are proposed to be constructed in the next couple of years. Of these, the Anandnagar-Butwal line would link the power starved Northern Region directly.
POWERGRID scope of work covers construction of 132kV D/c Anandnagar-Butwal line (45 kms. length in the Indian portion) at an estimated cost of Rs. 18.5 crores with Loop In - Loop Out (LILO) of one circuit at Maharajgunj substation of UP, alongwith associated bays.
Based on the recommendations made by the Indo-Nepal Power Exchange Committee in their 6th meeting held in January'2001, Government of India had given in-principle approval to enhance the quantum of power exchange between India and Nepal from 50 MW to 150 MW. Nepal had indicated that they would be surplus in power by about 100 to 150 MW (from May to October) for next 15 years. Keeping in view the critical importance of this line for enhancement of Indo-Nepal Power exchange and the information given by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) that construction of the Nepal portion of this line has already started, it was felt necessary for expediting Indian portion of transmission line to tie up the aforesaid arrangement. Implementation of this transmission line will be given highest priority and this will pave the way for enhancement of power exchange between India and Nepal.
PTC is examining the modalities of a long-term agreement for cross-border exchange of power with Nepal and plans to discuss this issue with NEA in the forthcoming 7th Indo-Nepal power meeting. It is also in the process of identifying long-term offtakers for power from Nepal as a back-to-back arrangement. |
