TNEB mulls 25 substations at Rs 235 cr

In a move to facilitate the evacuation of wind power by the wind farms, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has proposed to commission around 20 substations of 110 kv and five substations of 230 kv at a total project cost of Rs 235 crore.

Addressing a seminar on 'Wind Power Evacuation Solutions', B Jeyaraman, technical member, Tamil Nadu Energy Regulatory Committee (TNERC), said that the output of windfarms fluctuates according to the weather.

"Wind farms are often located far away from the load centre. In most cases, the large scale wind generation cannot be consumed locally. The wind power generation is concentrated in low load zones such as Tirunelveli district and Udumalpet areas. Hence, wind power generation has to be evacuated to other load centres of Tamil Nadu which are also getting overloaded during peak generation," he said.

To overcome this problem in the low load zone, the TNEB will erect four 230 kv substations and related transmission network in Tirunelveli district and one substation in Udumalpet area, Jeyaraman added. However, he did not give any timeframe for the project.

Explaining the future plans, he said that Muppandal area, which has a wind potential for more than 10 months in a year with 1,200 mw and 30 per cent Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF), is facing the problem of insufficient evacuation facility.

"However, to overcome this difficulty, TNEB is taking steps to install additional power transformers in Sankaneri substation and Udayathur area," he said.

At present, Tamil Nadu accounts for 60 per cent of the wind mill capacity in India, with a connected capacity of 2,400 mw. Of the total capacity of 2400 mw, the Coimbatore region (comprising Palladam, Udumalapet and Dharapuram) alone contributes 40 per cent," according to K Kasturirangaian, vice-chairman of the Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA).

Answering a question on the purchase price of wind power, he said that TNEB pays Rs 2.70 per unit and the price had not been revised for more than five years. The industry requires around Rs 3.20 per unit, which will help them in raising additional capacity.

Commenting on the problems that may emerge as the penetration of wind energy expands, he said that the concept of 'Windel' power such as windpower supplemented by pumped hydel power would provide uniform levels of power from sources not using fossil fuels. Other solutions are connecting the grid to the neighbouring grid network, he added.