BHEL, ABB consortium wins contract from PowerGrid

State-owned BHEL has won a contract from PowerGrid Corp along with Swedish firm ABB for supplying equipment for the construction of a transmission link.

"BHEL in consortium with ABB has won an order from PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd for Ultra High Voltage Multi-Terminal DC Transmission link," said an official statement.

The link comprises three converter terminals and a power transmission system with a built-in capacity of up to 8,000 MW. The use of Ultra High Voltage (+ 800 kilovolt) minimises transmission losses.

The North-East Agra UHVDC link will have a capacity to transmit up to 6,000 MW of clean hydroelectric power from the North-East Region of the country to Agra across a distance of 1,728 km.

This transmission super highway will to a large extent ease the ever increasing power shortages in northern India.

The order value for BHEL is Rs 1,590 crores. This is the largest order for BHEL in T&D sector. However, the value of the order for ABB could not be ascertained.

BHEL together with its partner ABB, Sweden, will execute the project involving system engineering, design, supply and installation of three HVDC converter stations. The first stage of the system is scheduled to be operational in 2014 and the second stage in 2015.