Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted transmission licence to “Koppal-Narendra Transmission Ltd” – a project SPV owned by ReNew Transmission Ventures Ltd.
In an order dated March 28, 2022, CERC has granted transmission licence to Koppal-Narendra Transmission Ltd (KNTL), subject to fulfillment of stipulated conditions, for a period of 25 years.
KNTL is implementing the ISTS transmission scheme officially termed as “Evacuation of power from RE sources in Koppal Wind Energy Zone (Karnataka) (2500MW)” on Build, Own, Operate and Maintain (BOOM) basis.
The major project elements of the scheme are:
- A 5×500 MVA, 400/220kV pooling station near Munirabad or any other suitable location in Koppal district of Karnataka
- Nine line bays of 220kV line bays for interconnection of wind projects
- A 400kV double-circuit line from the proposed Munirabad pooling station (discussed above) to PGCIL’s Narendra (New) substation in Dharwad district, Karnataka
- Two line bays of 400kV at the aforementioned Narendra substation
- 2×125 MVAr, 400kV bus reactor at the proposed Munirabad pooling station (discussed above)
ReNew Transmission Ventures had won the project under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) modality by quoting an levelized tariff of Rs.61.125 crore per year.
The project is estimated to cost around Rs.750 crore. The project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase is scheduled to commission by June 2023, followed by the second in December 2023.
Delay in finalisation of compensation rate for project land, is affecting the foundation work of the transmission line, it is learnt.
Current status
The transmission line (#3 in the list above) will be of length 275.4 ckm. It will have foundations at 352 locations, out of which 28 foundations were completed as of February 28, 2022. Tower erection and stringing work will begin subsequently. The transmission line is scheduled to complete by June 2023. It is also learnt that Koppal Narendra Transmission Ltd, through communications dated January 27, 2022, has approached District Collectors of Koppal, Gadag, Bagalkote and Vijaypura to finalise the compensation rate for right-of-way to be paid to the land owners in the route of the proposed transmission line. Delay in finalisation of compensation rate, is affecting the foundation work, it is learnt.
Also read: PGCIL To Take Care Of CTUIL Expenses Till March 2024, Says CERC
Transfer of SPV
It may be recalled that on December 13, 2021, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary PFC Consulting Ltd (PFCCL) transferred “Koppal-Narendra Transmission Ltd” to ReNew Transmission Ventures Ltd, the successful bidder, on December 13, 2021. A wholly-owned subsidiary of PFCCL, Koppal-Narendra Transmission Ltd, was incorporated in November 2019.
Project Rationale
The Narendra-Koppal transmission scheme is part of the overall plan of providing ISTS-based evacuation infrastructure for 66.5 GW of upcoming renewable energy zones in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Out of this 66.5 GW potential, a total of 18.5 GW (Solar: 10 GW, Wind 8.5 GW) has been identified in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The evacuation infrastructure for this 18.5 GW has been planned in three phases involving capacities of 5.5 GW, 5 GW and 8 GW, respectively. The Koppal-Narendra scheme, involving evacuation of 2.5 GW from wind energy zones in Karnataka, is part of the first of these three phases.
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