High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System

GS PAPER III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Context: India’s first Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System commissioned.

• Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a Maharatna CPSU under Ministry of Power, Government of India, has commissioned Monopole-I of the ± 320 kV, 2000 Mega-Watt (MW), Pugalur (Tamil Nadu) – Thrissur (Kerala) Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System.
• The Pugalur-Thrissur HVDC system, costing Rs. 5070 crore, is a part of the Raigarh-Pugalur-Thrissur 6000 MW HVDC system and enables transfer of 2000 MW to Kerala through the VSC HVDC station at Thrissur.
• The state-of-the-art VSC Technology has been brought to India for the first time by POWERGRID through this Project.
• The VSC technology significantly reduces the land requirement compared to the conventional HVDC systems and is particularly suitable for areas, where land is scarce.
• It also facilitates development of smart grid and improves system resilience under various operating conditions.
• A unique feature of this project is the combination of overhead line and underground cable to address the restricted availability of transmission corridor in Kerala.
• A significant part of the design, engineering, testing and commissioning for this VSC project has been done in India.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1725340