Srinagar: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched several development projects in state, PM dedicated 400 KV Double Circuit Jalandhar- Amargarh (Sopore) power corridor – a 414 km long Northern Region Strengthening Scheme 29 (NRSS 29) – Rs 3,000 crore project commissioned by Sterlite Power —one of India’s largest power transmission sector players to augment the state’s power transmission capacity.
The NRSS 29 power transmission project was awarded to Sterlite Power in 2014 by the union government and it was commissioned two months ahead of its deadline.
“The 414 kilometre Northern Region System Strengthening (NRSS)-29 project will ensure reliable power access for the valley by augmenting the state’s power transmission capacity by at least 33 per cent. We have built a 880 km cKM (circuit KM) transmission line passing through Pir Panjal range by using helicranes to overcome the challenges of high altitude snow and inaccessible terrains,” said Ved Mani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Global Infrastructure, Sterlite Power.
“This transmission line can deliver an incremental 1,000 Megawatt power to the valley. And after four years of challenges and arduous work, the 400 Kilovolt (KV) transmission line will provide an alternate power exchange route between Northern Grid and the State,” he said
He further stated that previously, the state was connected with the Northern Grid only through Kishenpur-Moga transmission line, passing through Pir Panjal range towards Wagoora and Wanpoh in Kashmir. Depended on a single link, the State would witness total darkness in case of any fault in the line.
According to Pratik Agarwal, Group CEO, Sterlite Power, the NRSS 29 project fits into the company’s approach to execute projects that would address the toughest challenges of energy delivery. “We have surmounted numerous challenges to finish this project ahead of schedule and feel very proud of the social impact it’ll have in the Valley,” he said.
The state suffers from frequent outages in the winter season and over 20 million locals do not have access to good quality electricity supply, Agarwal said. “We are among the handful of global transmission developers with projects worth Rs 268 billion across India and Brazil, solving the toughest challenges of energy delivery,” he said.
“We completed the project in August last year, two months ahead of schedule, despite a small working window of 4-5 months every year due to snow and hostile weather conditions in Kashmir,” said Sanjay Johari, Sterlite’s chief operating officer.
“This system allows us to identify failure easily, monitor it remotely and then send our helicopter teams to rectify it,” Johari said adding that despite the system, company will monitor the line once in month as it has tied up with a helicopter company.
These lines are integral part of the State government initiatives towards ensuring adequacy of the system to provide reliable and quality power to the consumers in the State.
