Sterlite Power completes reconductoring project ahead of schedule

Sterlite Power recently announced that it has successfully upgraded the capacity on the 132kV Hatia-Kamdara transmission line in Jharkhand, five months ahead of schedule.

The 61.6-km long transmission line was upgraded as the Kamdara substation was choking under excess load, leading to massive outages in nearly rural areas, a release from Sterlite Power said.

A spokesperson from state transmission utility Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam Ltd (JUSNL), the project owner, told T&D India by phone that the single-circuit line was reconductored to enhance its capacity. JUSNL had invited bids from contractors for reconductoring of the said line with HTLS (high temperature low sag) conductors and polymer insulators, in September 2016, the JUSNL official added.

Manish Agarwal, CEO, Sterlite Power – Solutions Business, said, “Continuous outages in Karra, Kamdara and Gumla have been a longstanding issue in this area. Finding an effective solution was of paramount importance. This line will help the State of Jharkhand provide reliable access to power in the region and further its roll out of the center’s Saubhagya scheme. The Solutions Business has provided bespoke solutions in 10 states to solve complex problems for power utilities. We specialize in upgrade and uprate of existing infrastructure in the shortest possible time.”

Project rationale

The Kamdara substation receives its power through the single circuit Hatia – Kamdara line and transmits power onwards to Gumla and railway load. A newly electrified railway track running from Ranchi to Rourkela also drew power from the same substation, leading to a massive increase in load. Consequently, peak time power surges would cause power outages in prime tribal areas like Karra, Kamdara and Gumla, in Jharkhand.

There was an urgent need to upgrade power transfer capacity along this line so that the power transmission requirements of these areas could be met. The solution used to address this issue was a combination of optical ground wire (OPGW) along with high performance conductors (HPC) to make the power system robust.

(Photographs shown are actual project images, sourced from Sterlite Power)