India’s First Voltage Source Convertor (VSC) Based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) System

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  on 8th June (Tuesday). This Project strengthens the power system of Southern Region of our Country. It may be recalled that Monopole-II of the project was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on 19^th February, 2021 and with the commissioning of Monopole-I, the project has attained its full capacity.

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.

Major HVDC equipment like interface transformers and IGBT-based power convertors, AC equipment such as Gas Insulated Sub-station, switchgear, controls and relay panels have been supplied by factories in India, thereby giving a major boost to the Prime Minister’s Make in India program. A significant part of the design, engineering, testing and commissioning for this VSC project has been done in India , aligned to the Prime Minister’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.