Areva T&D India’s transmission business (part of Alstom grid) on Wednesday flagged off the world's largest 1200 kV capacitive voltage transformer (CVT) from its Hosur facility. The company, which invested Rs 950 crore in its operations in the country since 2007, said it would invest another Rs 50-60 crore, once the market develops for 1200 KV in the country.
Areva T&D India managing director Rathin Basu said that at present 400 KV has been used for transmission and in the last four years 765 KV gained momentum.
Soon the demand for 1200 KV would led the phase of the growth in the power sector and this is expected in 2015-2016. He noted at present the largest CVT is in China which is 1100 KV.
The 1200 KV CVT would help to reduce the loss and will increase the speed of transmission. Basu noted, in 400 KV it would require three or four such lines for transmission, whereas in 1200 KV it would require only one line and when it comes to speed, it will be four times higher than 400 KV.
The CVT which was flagged off on Wednesday was awarded by the Powergrid, which is in the process of establishing a 1200 kV ultra high voltage AC transmission system at Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
This development will facilitate equipment’s field testing before deploying the technology for commercial purposes. Successful completion of test station at 1200kV will be a major accomplishment of Powergrid to upgrade the existing transmission voltage and create a highly advanced transmission corridor.