GE T&D bags Rs 90 crore grid upgradation order in Bengal

KOLKATA: GE T&D India Limited has bagged a Rs 90 crore grid upgradation order from West Bengal’s state-owned transmission company.

A statement from GE T&D Ltd said, following the upgradation, West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company (WBSETCL) will be able to meet the state’s growing energy demand and provide the utility with latest state-of-the-art transmission infrastructure.

GE won the order through a competitive bidding process and it includes construction of three new 132/33 kilovolt (kV) substations using GE’s advanced Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) technology in Ramnagar, Manbazaar and Birlapur. It also includes an extension of three existing substations at Hurand, Sirakole and Indus by adding two bays each.

With over 11 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity, West Bengal is working towards improving the availability, reliability and quality of power supply, whilst minimizing transmission and distribution losses. The projects aim at contributing to the state government’s ambition to provide 24X7 supply to all electricity consumers and provide electricity access to all unconnected households of the state. Once completed, the substations will strengthen intra-regional connectivity and ensure better electricity access to people living near these areas, thereby enabling the state to meet the growing demand for electricity.

GE’s GIS technology reduces land requirement to build a substation by up to 70% compared with Air Insulated Substations. It will offer several benefits for West Bengal’s grid, including smarter networks, condition-based maintenance and greater load control to prevent outages. The equipment required to construct these substations, including the GIS, shall be locally manufactured and supplied from GE T&D India’s factories in Padappai, Hosur and Pallavaram.