India-Sri Lanka power trade starts in 2014

The 285-kilometre India-Sri Lanka power link has been commissioned. Power Grid Corporation of India will likely to sign an MOU for developing the Rs 2,500-crore project with Sri Lanka by next month.

The high capacity power transmission link between the India and Sri Lanka, which includes submarine cables over 50 km, will enable the two countries to trade their surplus power with each other, thereby offering a cheaper option to bridge their power generation deficits and also manage peak demand.

“We are going to sign the MoU with the Sri Lankan side for the project in December. After this, it will take us six months to start work on the development of the project. We will complete the project within three years,” Power Grid Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Chaturvedi told Business Standard.

While India generally reels under an overall 12 per cent peak power deficit currently, minute electricity surplus in eastern and southern grids become available seasonally. “With the commissioning of the Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project in Andhra Pradesh, tradeble surplus would become available,” Chaturvedi added.

The Krishnapatnam UMPP is being developed by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-owned Reliance Power and is likely to be commissioned by 2015. The subsea line would initially have a capacity of transmitting 500 Mw, according to Power Grid’s feasibility report.

The completion of the proposed undersea transmission link, however, would also depend on the commissioning of NTPC’s 500 Mw imported coal-based power project being planned to be set up at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. The undersea project would be useful in evacuation of power from the plant.

Powergrid and Ceylon Electricity Board will lay down cables under the Gulf of Mannar between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.