GE T&D India has achieved a new milestone in Champa-Kurukshetra ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) project. The company has successfully energize the third of four poles planned for the project.
This adds an additional 1,500 MW of capacity to the 1,287 km link, which is now transmitting 4,500 MW.
A feature of the Champa project is the use of an overhead line with dedicated metallic return, which uses a neutral conductor as a part of the DC circuit.
GE is the first company in the world to demonstrate this technology with this project. The ±800 kV UHVDC transmission line is a crucial component of the Indian government’s electricity-for-all initiative providing reliable electricity for 46 percent of its population and helping to integrate renewable energy resource.
It will help provide reliable electricity in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and surrounding areas.
Upon completion of the project, the 1,287 km link will have the capacity to transmit 6,000 MW of electricity at ±800kV, making it one of the largest generation-to-consumption transmission systems in the world.
The project transmits electricity from power generating plants located across Chhattisgarh to a GE-built rectifier station in Champa, where it is converted from AC to DC.
The electricity is transported in bulk across the UHVDC line and is then converted back to AC by a GE inverter station in Kurukshetra, Haryana. From there, the power is transported to the surrounding rural states who are in need of electrical power.
Phase-1 of the project was completed in 2017 and provided 3,000 MW of transmission capacity. The company commissioned Pole-3, adding another 1,500 MW of transmission capacity, a progress towards the completion of Phase-2.
Once Pole-4 is commissioned, the entire system will transmit 6,000 MW of electricity at 800 kV.
