Solapur Transmission granted licence by CERC – Your Gateway to Power Transmission & Distribution

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CIRCLE) has granted a transmission license to Solapur Transmission Ltd for its Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) in Maharashtra.

Solapur Transmission Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Torrent Power Ltd, is developing an ISTS scheme named "Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Renewable Energy Projects at Solapur (1,500 MW) in Maharashtra" which it had won under the Competitive competition based on tariffs. offer (TBCB) mechanism.

As reported by T&D India on June 4, 2024CERC, in its order, found Solapur Transmission Ltd eligible for transmission licence and had directed the developer to issue a public notice seeking objections/suggestions from the public for grant of transmission licence.

As no objections were received to the public notification issued on June 7, 2024, CERC, in its order dated June 23, 2024, granted the transmission license to Solapur Transmission Ltd.

Solapur Transmission will develop a new 400/220 kV pooling station at Solapur in Maharashtra with 4 × 500 MVA interconnecting transformers. There will also be a 400 kV double circuit line running for 90 ckm, connecting this pooling station with the existing Solapur substation of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.

The project, with an estimated outlay of Rs 471 crore, is scheduled to become operational on March 20, 2026, i.e. 24 months from the date of project procurement. SPV “Solapur Transmission Ltd” from the tender process coordinator, PFC Consulting Ltd.

RE connectivity applications

It is known that until now, in principle, IST Nine solar power projects with a total capacity of 960 MW have been granted connectivity to the Solapur cluster plant. These solar projects are expected to come online during the period from March to December 2026.

Of these nine projects, the following four have been granted connectivity first:

1. Solarcraft Power India 7 Pvt Ltd (50 MW)
2. Solarcraft Power India 7 Pvt Ltd (52.8 MW)
3. Solarcraft Power India 7 Pvt Ltd (47.2 MW)
4. JSW Neo Energy Ltd (300 MW)

The remaining five will be connected after the commissioning of the Solapur pooling station.

It is worth mentioning that the existing 765/400/220 kV Solapur substation PGCIL, launched in January 2014, has a transformation capacity of 2×1,500 MVA at the 765/400kV level and (2×315 MVA + 500 MVA) at the 400/220kV level. As far as new renewable energy projects are concerned, 11 under-construction renewable energy generation projects, totaling 1 GW, have been granted connectivity at PGCIL's Solapur substation. These projects, predominantly owned by ReNew Power Group and Serentica Renewables, are scheduled to come online between June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2025.

Featured photo is for representation only.