THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Construction of the 165 km long Rs 1,474 crore Pugalur-Madakkathara HDVC power line is expected to be completed soon, paving the way for a huge boost in power imports to Kerala. With the commissioning of the project, the line will be able to bring in 2,000 MW of power to the state from Raigarh in Chhattisgarh.

The project envisages meeting the state's future power demands and significantly reducing transmission losses, a government press release said. The line has been laid from Pugalur in Tamil Nadu to Madakkathara in Thrissur and is being implemented by the Power Grid Corporation of India,a Central Public Sector Undertaking, to counter extreme deficit in the southern region, where power shortage creeps up to 3 GW during peak load situation.

This is the first transmission network in the country to be built on the latest technology Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based HVDC system, the release said. High voltage direct current technology can minimise transmission losses. The project, which includes 138 km of overhead lines and 27 km of underground cables from Vadakkanchery to Madakkathara in Kerala, is being implemented by ensuring adequate compensation to people whose lands had been acquired for the project, through a special package to avoid obstruction of line construction by landowners, it said.

The Kerala State Electricity Board had appointed a special task force to complete the project, started in May 2018, on time. Utilizing traffic restrictions enforced during the lockdown as part of the Covid defence operations, cables were laid along the sides of the national highway, including the Kuthiran tunnel.

At the request of the state government, a 320 kV 2000 MW HVDC line was sanctioned from Pugalur-Madakkathara for the continuation of the 800 kV 6000 MW 1,765 km long Raigarh- Pugalur DC line, the release said. The final stages of line construction are underway and the project will provide electricity to domestic as well as commercial customers. The Pugalur-Madakathara line will also facilitate uninterrupted power supply to industrial ventures being set up as part of the Kochi-Bangalore Industrial Corridor.