Friday, March 21, 2008

Lanka, India power transfer project feasibility report soon

The feasibility study for the proposed US $ 450 million mega undersea power transmission link between India and Sri Lanka is slated to be ready shortly.

Sources said the 200 kilometer long submarine cable would enable India to export electricity to Sri Lanka and is likely to be set up with a capacity to wheel around 1,000 MW of electricity.

The report on the high voltage direct current link between the two countries is being prepared by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), which had earlier estimated that it can set up the link in around 40 months once all clearances are in place. The link is likely to connect Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Anuradhapura.

While a joint steering committee has been set up to oversee the project, a task force comprising representatives of Union Power Ministry, central electricity authority and PGCIL on the Indian side and the Sri Lankan Energy Ministry and Ceylon Electricity Board has been firmed up to study the feasibility report and make recommendations to the committee.

Officials said that Indian utilities could get higher tariffs from electricity supplies to the country. Initially, surplus power would be transmitted from India to Sri Lanka using the link. They added that with NTPC, already working on a 500 MW coal fired plant in Sri Lanka, wheeling power from Sri Lanka to India could also be a possibility over the long term.

India currently has transmission links with only Bhutan, as part of the 1,040 MW Tala hydroelectric power evacuation systems.

The proposal to link up countries in the South Asian region is being seen as a forerunner to the proposed Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical & Economic Cooperation power transmission network, which is under consideration.

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