Siemens PTD bags Euros 170 million order from Power Grid

Siemens Ltd has announced that Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) and consortium partner Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have been awarded an order by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd to construct 2500 MW HVDC Terminal stations for a 780-kilometer long high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission route between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The consortium order is worth about Euros 235 million of which Siemens portion is about Euros 170 million. Of this, Siemens PTD India will be executing a portion of the contract valued at approximately Euros 28 million (Rs 1625 million).

To enhance the power supply to the developing regions around New Delhi, Siemens will be providing a new HVDC transmission system for transporting the energy generated from the Barh power plant in Uttar Pradesh. This bipolar 500-kV direct-current transmission system with a power rating of 2500 MW will transport electrical energy with low loss from the pooling station at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, covering a distance of 780 km.

The total order for Siemens is worth around 170 million euros wherein Siemens AG's portion is about 142 million euros and the Company's portion is about 28 million euros (approximately Rs 1625 million). As leader of the consortium, Siemens has overall responsibility for the project, including the design of the complete HVDC transmission system. Siemens will deliver the bulk of the core components such as converter valves, converter transformers, smoothing reactors, protection and control systems, and the AC and DC filters. The company is also undertaking transport functions, construction work and the installation & start-up of the HVDC transmission system. The consortium partner BHEL is supplying converter transformers for the Bhiwadi converter station and components of the AC switchgear for both converter stations.

HVDC technology has a number of advantages, as it enables power to be transmitted efficiently from power surplus areas to power deficit areas over the grid. This is also a much more economical way of making power available and has the advantage of being more energy efficient and environment friendly.

Commenting on the order, Mr. J Schubert, Managing Director of the Company said, "We are extremely proud that we have been able to bag yet another order from the PowerGrid Corporation of India for transmitting power from surplus areas to deficit regions. This is the second HVDC project that we are implementing in India and are happy to support India's plans in the area of transmission and distribution. We are a leading global player in the Power sector and have world-class technologies in this area. At the same time, since we have been present in India for more than 85 years, we know the local market and customer requirements. This unique combination gives us an unmatched advantage." He further added, "Availability of power is the most critical factor if India wants to achieve the planned growth rate of 9%. While the Government has ambitious plans to realize its goal of Power for all by 2012, much has yet to be done to speed up implementation to achieve the target."

This project will be the fourth long-distance bulk HVDC transmission link in India and the second system that Siemens is building in the country. The first high-voltage direct-current transmission route was the "East-South" long-distance link, which still currently ranks as the second longest HVDC transmission link in the world. Since 2003, the Siemens system has been transporting electrical energy with low loss from the Talcher power plant complex in Orissa to the industrial region around Bangalore in the south - covering a distance of over 1450 kms. In 2006, the PowerGrid Corporation of India commissioned Siemens to upgrade the power rating of this HVDC transmission system from 2000 MW to 2500 MW.

Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Division in India provides products, systems and solutions in the area of medium-voltage and high-voltage switchgear, medium voltage switchboards, high voltage substations, production system, substation automation and power system control and energy management systems.

Source : Equity Bulls

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