PANAJI
The Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Limited (GTTPL) - an interstate transmission system project, covering Goa and Karnataka States, that was proposed by the Union Power Ministry in 2015 is nearing completion. The ambitious project that envisaged laying a 400 KV transmission line to Goa is likely to be commissioned by March 2024 while the entire project, including the Karnataka region, is expected to be completed by March 2025.
The project that had initially met with intense opposition, which was settled following a green signal from the Supreme Court, envisioned to create an additional source of power for the State of Goa, which is currently dependent on the Western and Southern grid to meet its growing power requirements.
According to GTTPL, the commission of the project, coupled with State government effort to strengthen its existing 33kv and 22kv transmission lines, will give a major boost to power availability 24x7 to the consumers.
From the west, Goa is connected through the 400kv Kolhapur-Mapusa transmission line and from the South, through a single 220 kV line, at present.
Speaking to The Goan, project head Devanand Singh said that the plan is to complete the Goa portion of Tamnar project by March 2024 as 70-75 per cent work of the two transmission lines and the sub-station at Dharbandora is completed.
“There are some hurdles and we are working on it. As far as substation is concerned, we are sure it will be completed by March 2024 but there are some hiccups in the transmission line work,” he explained.
“The entire project including Goa and Karnataka inter connections, will be ready by March 2025,” Singh added.
He said that the project, once completed, will definitely increase the reliability of power for Goa. “In case of failure of any incoming power sources from other grid to Goa, this project will cater the entire load ensuring that consumers get the required power supply,” he said.
Singh said that Goa Electricity department is simultaneously working on strengthening their domestic transmission lines of 33kV and 22kV, which will further enhance the possibility of uninterrupted power supply.
“This entire infrastructure will give a boost in providing 24x7 power to the consumers,” he commented.
According to the industries, at present, Goa has just one 400 KV power line that delivers power from the Western region. Goa also gets 100 MW of power at 220 KV from the Southern region at the Ponda and Xeldem substation.
The State government has strongly backed the Tamnar Power line project stating that the entire economy of Goa is dependent on the project.
The project entails the laying of 240 kms of transmission lines and one high-power sub-station aiming to strengthen the current grid network. It comprises of 5 elements that are related but functionally independent. These together constitute the scheme for “Additional 400 kV Feed to Goa and Additional System for Power Evacuation from generation Projects Pooled at Raigarh (Tamnar) Pool”.
400/220kV substation at village Dharbandora in Goa
400kV D/c Xeldem-Mapusa-Narendra Transmission Line In Line Out (LILO) Line (spans across Goa and Karnataka)
765kV D/c Dharamjaigarh -Tamnar transmission Line (Chhattisgarh)
400kV D/c Xeldem-Mapusa Transmission Line (Goa)
220 kV Xeldem- Xeldem transmission line
