Coal news and updates

PGCIL synchronises Southern Grid with National Grid

January 2: In a major breakthrough in the power transmission sector, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has synchronously connected the Southern Grid with the National Power Grid, thus, making India one of the largest operating synchronous grids in the world.

The Southern Grid connectivity was achieved on the evening of December 31, 2013 through commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur 765 kV single circuit transmission line by PGCIL, a statement issued by the Union power ministry said on January 2.

"With this, the mission of ‘One Nation–One Grid–One Frequency' has been successfully accomplished," the statement said.

This line of 208 circuit kilometers (ckm) and 765/400 kV substations at Raichur and Sholapur has been commissioned five months ahead of its contractual schedule, ie, May 31, 2014, at a cost of approximately Rs 815 crore.

"With this interconnection, Indian power system has entered into a new era and become one of the largest operating synchronous grids in the world with about 232 GW of installed power generation capacity," the statement added.