Power Companies Look For Projects outside Country

With new power transmission projects thin on the ground, leading transmission companies are looking elsewhere, such as Latin America, to try and bolster their order books. Slow growth in power demand has reduced the immediate

BY Realty Plus
Published - Thursday, 10 Dec, 2020

Power Companies Look For Projects outside Country

With new power transmission projects thin on the ground, leading transmission companies are looking elsewhere, such as Latin America, to try and bolster their order books. Slow growth in power demand has reduced the immediate need for new transmission capacity, prompting some firms to turn to new opportunities in sectors such as metro rail and urban infrastructure as well as foreign markets. Order intake this year has been lukewarm because of Covid-19, flat growth in power demand. Transmission line addition was lower at 11,921 circuit kilometres (ckm) in April-October 2020 than last year’s 13,451ckm, according to the Central Electricity Authority. There is a pipeline of about ?39,000 crore of new transmission projects but government tenders have been delayed because of new notifications from the ministry of power regarding local sourcing and equity lock-in periods. Besides, some renewable energy developers have scrapped new projects, which means the transmission lines planned for power evacuation from these sites have been delayed as well. Bidding in power transmission projects has been subdued this year and that is a concern; there are more assets changing hands than new projects being built, said Ankur Agarwal, associate director, India Ratings. However, the pace at which new projects will be awarded will speed up. There is visible postponement in taking forward the bidding of transmission projects due to covid-19 but the requirement of these transmission systems is intact.