Sterlite Power upgrades capacity at Jharkhand’s Hatia-Kamdara transmission line

Sterlite Power has successfully upgraded capacity on Jharkhand’s 132kv Hatia-Kamdara (61.6 km) transmission line and delivered the project 5 months ahead of the scheduled completion date. The transmission lines were upgraded as the Kamdara substation was choking under excess load, leading to massive outages in nearby rural areas.

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 rollout of the center’s Saubhagya scheme.”

He further added, “Sterlite Power is India’s leading integrated power transmission developer and solutions provider. 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.”

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 of Jharkhand, like Karra, Kamdara and Gumla. 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.

The Solutions arm of Sterlite has uprated more than 2,500 cKM of transmission lines in the country across 25 corridors. Its solutions mitigate grid congestion by augmenting power transfer capacity, improving line efficiency and enhancing system reliability and security with minimum disturbance to environment and public.