Three substations of 220 kV and Kosi Corridor transmission line operating at 220 kV

1280

Kathmandu, 5 Aug 2022. Nepal Electricity Authority has commissioned three 220  (KV) substations on the same day.
The authority has started the operation from Thursday in Inaruwa of Sunsari and Tumlingtar and Baneshwar 220 KV substations of Sankhuwasabha which have been completed. 220 ÷ 132 ÷ 33 KV Tumlingtar and 220 ÷ 33 KV Baneshwar substations have power transformers of 260 MVA and 60 MVA capacity respectively.
Also, under the Koshi Corridor transmission line project, the Inruwa-Tumlingtar section single circuit transmission line has been charged at 220 KV and brought into operation. The length of the transmission line is one hundred and five kilometers.

The executive director of the authority, Ghising, said that after the transmission line and substation are operational, the infrastructure has been prepared as a backbone for the electricity produced in the hilly districts of Province No. 1 to flow and distribute to the national transmission system. Executive Director Ghising mentioned that after the 220 kV transmission line and substation came into operation, the voltage in that area has improved and the power supply is reliable and of good quality.

“In the Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor, when the supply was only from Sunsari’s Duhavi substation, there was a problem of voltage, tripping, etc., now the load of Duhavi substation can be shifted to Inruwa substation, so more electricity can be provided to the industries, and the problems of voltage, tripping etc. will be solved”, Ghising said. “There was also a problem of tripping of the power plants of Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur and Tehrathum districts. Now that problem will also be solved. If the electricity coming through the Koshi Corridor transmission line is consumed in that area, it can be exported to India through Dhanusha’s Dhalkebar substation.”

220-132-33 KV Inruva Substation has been constructed under the Nepal-India Power Transmission and Trade Project with the investment of the Government of Nepal and a favorable loan from the World Bank to strengthen the power transmission and distribution system within the country.
Under the Koshi Corridor 220 KV transmission line project, substations and transmission lines have been constructed at Tumlingtar, Vasantpur and Baneshwar with the investment of the Government of Nepal and the concessional loan of the Export Import (Exim) Bank of the Government of India.

Since the Inruva substation was not operational, the Inruva-Vasantpur-Tumlingtar transmission line was temporarily charged at 33 KV and brought into operation. The 66 km transmission from Kitingidanda in Sankhuwasabha to Dharan in Sunsari was started on 2 August 2078 at 33 KV.
Ghising mentioned that after the transmission lines and substations are operational, the availability of resources for power supply in that area will make the system reliable and quality. A 23 km 132 KV transmission line and substation are under construction from Inaruwa Substation to Biratnagar for the improvement, strengthening and additional structures of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor.

The construction of 400 KV substation based on gas insulated system (GIS) at Inruwa substation has reached its final stage. After the completion of construction of 400 kV substation, Inaruwa substation will become another big hub for the transmission system supplying electricity from east to west.
The electricity produced by the hydropower projects constructed on the Arun and Tamor rivers and their tributaries will be connected to the Inruwa substation through the Kosi Corridor 220 kV transmission line. Under the Koshi Corridor, Vasantpur-Dhungesanghu (Taplejung) section and the construction of 220 KV substation in Vasantpur are being worked on with the goal of completing it within 6 months, said Shukra Devkota, head of the project.
Under the 220 KV transmission line project of Koshi Corridor, a 220 KV double circuit tower has been constructed from Sunsari’s Inruwa to Sankhuwasabha’s Basantpur, Baneshwar to Tumlingtar, and only one side of the tower has been stretched.

The transmission line project with an estimated cost of 112 million US dollars was built with the investment of the Government of Nepal and the concessional loan given by the Government of India to Exim Bank. A concessional loan of USD 90 million has been provided for the project from Exim Bank.
About 1000 megawatts of electricity can be transmitted from Tumlingtar to Basantpur, about 1000 megawatts from Dhungesanghu (Taplejung) to Basantpur and about 2000 megawatts from Basantpur to Inaruwa through the Koshi Corridor Transmission Line Project.

The Kosi Corridor under construction is Nepal’s longest-distance 220 kV transmission line to connect the electricity generated from the Arun and Tamor rivers and their tributaries to the national transmission grid.

The Kosi Corridor has been constructed to connect the electricity of the hydroelectric projects to be built in Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum and Taplejung in the number one province to the national transmission line. The Authority has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to connect 516 MW of 28 private sector projects to this transmission line.