Areva T&D bags Rs 25 cr deal

The Chennai-based Areva T&D has been awarded the contract to build the prestigious national load dispatch centre (NLDC) by the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL).

The Rs 25 crore project, which will form the apex of the country's power grid system, is expected to be completed by June 2008.

The other tiers, regional and state level load management systems are already in place. The western region load management centre, which is the largest, was inaugurated in early April.

While Areva will execute the work on the main the load dispatch centre, the communication links between the five regional centres and national level load management centre will be handled by the respective companies handling the communication networks, PGCIL sources said.

The project includes the planning, design, engineering and supply of state-of-the-art hardware and software for implementation of the NLDC, Areva officials said. The NLDC will schedule and dispatch electricity to five Regional Load Dispatch Centres.

The NLDC project is in line with the ministry of power's decision to move towards a full-fledged integrated National Power Grid in the country, to enable optimum scheduling and dispatch of electricity among all the five Regional Load Dispatch Centres, as per the Electricity Act, 2003.

NLDC's functions include supervision of the five RLDCs, inter-regional links to ensure stability and efficiency of the national grid, scheduling and dispatch of electricity over inter-regional links and coordination with RLDCs for achieving maximum economy.

The NLDC system platform will be integrated at AREVA T&D's automation business unit in Noida, New Delhi, Areva officials said.