GE T&D Bags Rs 90 cr Project to Upgrade West Bengal Grid

State energy transition study

GE T&D India has received a Rs 90 crore grid upgradation order from WBSETCL that will address the growing energy demand of West Bengal

As part of its commitment to strengthen and modernise the energy transmission network of the country, GE T&D India has announced that it received a grid upgradation order from West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company (WBSETCL) that will address the growing energy demand of the state and provide the utility with latest state-of-the-art transmission infrastructure.

The order worth approximately Rs 90 crore that GE won through a competitive bidding process, includes construction of three new 132/33 kilovolt (kV) substations using GE’s advanced Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) technology in Ramnagar, Manbazaar and Birlapur. It also includes an extension of three existing substations at Hurand, Sirakole and Indus by adding two bays each.

With over 11 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity, West Bengal is working towards improving the availability, reliability and quality of power supply, whilst minimizing transmission and distribution losses. The projects aim at contributing to the state government’s ambition to provide 24X7 supply to all electricity consumers and provide electricity access to all unconnected households of the state. Once completed, the substations will strengthen the intra-regional connectivity and ensure better electricity access to people living near these areas, thereby enabling the state to meet the growing demand for electricity.

“We are proud to continue our 30-year partnership with WBSETCL by providing them with our latest grid technologies to help them meet their growing energy needs in a more efficient way. With over 50 percent of India’s power managed on GE’s grid technologies, we are helping to meet the needs of the country’s electricity consumers including in West Bengal. The new substations will help the state achieve its objective to provide reliable power for all households 24/7,” said Sunil Wadhwa, managing director of GE T&D India Limited.

GE T&D India has a strong footprint in West Bengal and with the latest contract awarded, the company is executing projects worth over Rs 250 crore to upgrade the state’s grid infrastructure. Some of the key ongoing projects include GIS at Burdwan and Salt Lake. GE has been fully committed to modernise the state’s power infrastructure and has already completed projects worth approximately Rs 750 crore over the last few years in partnership with the state’s transmission and distribution utilities like WBSETCL, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), and Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation.

In March, we had reported that GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions business had been awarded a technology-driven grid modernisation project by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (RRVPL) as part of the utility’s roadmap to implement grid initiatives and augmenting renewable energy in the state, which will benefit the Rajasthan’s population. The project is being executed by GE T&D India, GE’s Grid Solutions listed entity in India.