The Warora-Kurnool Transmission (WKTL), spanning 1,756 circuit kilometres (ckm) across Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, was fully commissioned by Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL), the company announced on Thursday through an exchange filing.
The project will strengthen the national grid to ensure seamless power flow of 4500 MW between the western and southern regions, it said.
The project will also enhance the southern region grid and support large-scale generation integration from renewable energy sources, it added.
Warora-Kurnool Transmission
Warora-Kurnool Transmission Limited (WKTL) was incorporated in April, 2015 to establish an additional inter-regional alternate current link for import into southern region, i.e., Warora-Warangal and Chilakaluripeta-Hyderabad-Kurnool, along with the creation of a 765/400 kV sub-station in Warangal.
WKTL is the largest 765 kV D/C (hexa conductor) TBCB (tariff-based competitive bidding) project ever awarded under a single scheme. It involved the laying of a 1,756 ckm transmission line traversing across Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and the construction of 765 KV sub-station in Warangal on a build, own, operate and maintain basis.
It was awarded on a Tariff-based competitive bid (TBCB) to Essel InfraProjects Ltd in early 2016 and subsequently acquired by AESL in March, 2021 following the stressed debt restructuring undertaken by lenders.
A total of 103,000 MT of steel was used for erecting the towers. This equals the amount of material that would be needed to set up 10 Eiffel Towers. The transmission lines employed around 30,154 km of conductor, which is equivalent to three rounds of the Moon.
Other superlative accomplishments included:
• 1,524 ckm of stringing was completed in 11 months at a rate of 140 ckm/ month
• 100 MT tower erected per day with average 15 gangs and a peak mobilisation of 40 gangs
• Peak mobilisation of 2,000 workers across sites
• The project also braved two black swan global events: Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war. These caused disruptions in the entire commodity supply chain as well as leading to repeated demobilisation and mobilisation challenges.