An extension of eighteen months has been granted to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) for completion of the New Wanpoh substation augmentation project in UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
In a very recent communication, Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) granted an extension of 18 months, revising the completion date to June 30, 2027 from the earlier December 31, 2025.
The project under discussion is augmentation of PGCIL’s 400/220kV New Wanpoh substation situated in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir. The project entails putting up a new interconnecting transformer (ICT), the third at the substation, with capacity 400/220kV, 315 MVA (3 x 105 MVA). Two transformer bays – one each of 400kV and 200kV – also form part of the project.
With an estimated cost of Rs.61 crore, the project was awarded to PGCIL under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) framework, on March 22, 2024. At the time of award, the project was scheduled to complete in 21 months, which is by December 31, 2025.
However, PGCIL has informed that it has been facing several challenges in awarding the substation extension contract. PGCIL floated tenders for appointing contracts in July 2024 itself. However, despite as many as 17 extensions to the bid submission date, not a single response was received up to December 2024.
Commissioned in around 2014, PGCIL’s 400/220kV, 2×135 MVA New Wanpoh substation is an important interstate transmission system (ISTS) element connecting the Kashmir Valley to the National Grid. The substation formed part of a larger scheme “Northern Region System Strengthening Scheme – XVI” that also included a 400kV double-circuit line from the New Wanpoh substation to the existing Kishenpur substation, and LILO of both circuits of the 400kV double-circuit Kishenpur-Wagoora line at New Wanpoh.
Source of featured photograph: Rasiq Malik/Google Images