Mumbai In a boost to Mumbai’s power security and the islanding system that insulates it from grid failures, the state government has cleared a major transmission project that will augment the capacity to wheel in additional power to the megapolis and decongest the transmission lines.
It has given approvals to Adani Electricity Mumbai Infra Limited for the 1,000 MW HVDC Kudus-Aarey Transmission line project. The project will cost an estimated ₹7,000 crore, and is expected to be completed by 2026. At present, the city has a capacity to wheel in around 2,200 MW.
An Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd spokesperson said, “The Kudus-Aarey HVDC Transmission line is a landmark project for strengthening Mumbai’s transmission system and will allow Adani Electricity to significantly leapfrog renewable energy supply to up to 60% of Mumbai’s demand.”
Work on designing the project, acquiring land and securing the statutory approvals is in progress.
The recent power outages in Mumbai have revealed the chinks in the islanding scheme introduced in 1981 to insulate the city from outages in the state grid. It has also pointed to the need to boost the capacity of transmission networks, which are getting clogged considering the growing demand for power.
On 12 October 2020, Mumbai had come to a halt for a few hours due to a massive power outage. It had taken up to 24-hours for supply to be restored in some areas. On 27 February, a similar power cut occurred in Mumbai due to the tripping of a transmission line and planned outages for linear infrastructure projects. However, the impact on the commercial and financial sectors was minimal as most establishments were closed on the weekend, though suburban train services were briefly affected.
Mumbai’s peak power has touched 3,850 MW this year and is expected to soar to 5,000 MW by 2024-25 and further to 6,000 MW by 2030. This demand is growing at an estimated 5 per cent per year, and any addition to the localised generation capacity is tough considering the space constraints and pollution control norms.
After the 2020 blackout in Mumbai, a state government committee noted that the city’s embedded generation capacity, which includes Tata Power’s 1,430 MW power plant and the 500 MW project of Adani Electricity (then Reliance Energy) at Dahanu was insufficient to meet the growing demand. Around 1,500 MW power was being brought to Mumbai through transmission corridors, which are already congested. The committee identified the need for augmenting the city’s transmission capacity.
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) identified two transmission projects, namely, the Kharghar-Vikhroli 400 kV scheme and the 1,000 MW Aarey-Kudus HVDC scheme. The Aarey-Kudus project was awarded to Reliance Energy, but the 80 km underground transmission line was delayed for various reasons. It was revived after the Adani group took over the Mumbai’s suburban power distribution business from Reliance Energy
The MERC granted a license to Adani Electricity Mumbai Infra Ltd. in 2021 to build the 1000 MW HVDC Aarey-Kudus Transmission line