the project.

Innovative solutions using out of box thinking was the biggest outcome to overcome the
challenges faced. Development of multi -voltage - multi-circuit tower configuration (400 / 132 kV)
even though the height of tower increased, was more suitable solution to protect the environment by
avoiding huge tree cutting in the forest and reduction in the number of foundations to be casted.

Innovative approach of using helicopter keeping in mind the challenges, resulted into NER-II
project receiving a Golden Peacock Awards 2020 for Occupational Health and Safety and IMPA
Global project Excellence Award.

KEYWORDS

NER-II -North-Eastern-Region of India, MW- Megawatt, kV- Kilovolt, MVA- Mega Volt Amp,
D/c- Double circuit, M/c-Multi circuit, LILO-loop in loop out of transmission line

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1. Detailed Scope of work under the project

1.1 Silchar–Misa 400 kV D/c (Quad) transmission to provide a strong interconnection between the
northern and southern part of northeastern region and would also facilitate dispersal of power
from central /private generation projects to various parts of NER through formation of Silchar –
Misa – Balipara – Bongaigaon – Azara – Byrnihat – Silchar 400kV ring network. Further, this
line would provide an additional path beyond Silchar for evacuation of power from Palatana
Gas Based Power Project.
1.2 Biswanath Chariyali – Itanagar 132 kV D/c transmission line & Gohpur LILO which will
strengthen the interconnections between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and also to provide an
additional source of power to the capital city of Itanagar.
1.3 AGTPP (NEEPCO) – P.K. Bari 132kV D/c line with high capacity HTLS conductor
(equivalent to single moose) is planned for reliable evacuation of power from AGTPP
generation project (4x21+2x25.5) after addition of 2 units of 25.5 MW capacity.
1.4 The 400 kV D/c Surajmaninagar – PK Bari transmission line to provide an additional 400kV
corridor for reliable power evacuation from Palatana gas power project.
1.5 Two substations of 400/132 kV each at Surajmaninagar and PK Bari in Tripura.
Given the mega scale and size of the project, each element of the project listed above plays a
significant role in evacuating and connecting critical power in the region
1.6 Lines and substations are marked on Map (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Details of the project on Map

2. Challenges and Innovative solutions

2.1 Environmental Challenges in the route selection, construction of transmission lines and
innovative solutions

First challenge was to find the most economical route connecting the sub-stations with the
accuracy of survey for the transmission line passing through thick forest. As per the original
scheme, there was a need to develop two transmission lines of 400 kV and 132 kV between the
two sub-stations. These lines had to pass through three big clusters of dense forest, which
meant going through approval process for cutting of large number of trees from the forest
authorities, damaging the environment, which was neither justified nor approved by the
authorities. Since the forest was coming under the authorities from different states, all the
authorities asked us to find a route and solution which shall save tree cuttings and protect the
mother earth. 100 Kms long transmission lines in Tripura – (1) 400kV D/c transmission line
from SM Nagar substation to P.K. Bari substation and (2) 132kV D/c line from NEEPCO
(AGTPP) to P.K. Bari (TSECL) substation had to be constructed. A total of 44 Kms of lines
had to traverse dense hilly forests to reach the destination.

Engineering design experts came back to drawing board and developed an interesting solution
by preparing two feeder incoming lines of 400 kV and 132 kV from sub-stations and converted
into a 400/132 multi-voltage-multi-circuit line and branching out as outgoing lines to connect to
two substations. The tower configurations were created as vertical formation for 400 kV and a

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delta formation of conductors for 132 kV. The transmission line was optimized by using
intermediate angle towers to suit the angle deviations as needed as per the route instead of
taking a conventional route of three standard angle towers. Multi Voltage (400kV and 132kV),
multi circuit towers were used bringing about a remarkable reduction in the line corridor
through the forest stretch. This resulted in reducing. the forest area utilization by 102 hectares
(1.02 million square meters) and approximately 60,900 trees were saved - corresponding to a
reduction of CO2 emissions to the tune of 655 tons on a yearly basis. Multi-circuit line is
shown in (Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4).

Figure 2: M/c line Figure 3: line through forest Figure 4: Two D/c lines
Joining on M/c line

Line faced through many difficult construction challenges for entry to the substation, due to
inaccessibility to location, a special monopole was designed and constructed in the forest and a
wildlife area after a special approval. Special foundations have been designed and constructed
due to very poor soil strata and restricted area. Monopole is shown in (Figure 5). Other
construction activities are shown in (Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, and Figure 10).

Figure 5: Monopole for entry Figure 6: Railway Crossing Figure 7: Stringing in progress
in Substation

Figure 8: Tower erection Figure 9: Tower in forest. Figure 10: Stringing activity

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2.2 Shifting of construction materials on top of undulated mountains using helicopters

Other part of the transmission lines was spanning across virgin forest in undulated and hilly
terrain. The major issues that confronted us was to transport the construction materials to top of
the mountains. In early 2020, the project found itself in the middle of a global pandemic, an
unprecedented event which led to a strict, nation- wide lockdown in March 2020.
With thousands of tons of material yet to be moved to the challenging locations of Arunachal
Pradesh, it was estimated that it will take approximately 1500 workers to shift construction
material manually on hills, which could have taken a whole year along with an increased risk of
COVID19 infection.
Adhering to the stringent guidelines imposed by the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh
during the pandemic, Helicopter service was deployed in Hilly terrain of the Arunachal Pradesh
section to shift the material through Heli operation and reduce the requirement of 1500 Plus
manpower. The helicopters transported all the construction materials to tough and
unapproachable hilly locations. The operation took less than 3 months to deliver over 3000 MT
of material across 40+ locations in about 400 flying hours. Helicopter operations from
marshalling yard to location is shown in (Figure 11, Figure 12, Figure 13).

.
Figure 11: helicopter in Figure 12: Material lifting Figure 13: Transport to
marshalling yard Hill top location

2.3 Construction challenges for the stability of tower foundations near the riverbed with high water
table

In BNC line, the Upper Assam region which is also called a Brahmaputra valley - one of the
largest rivers of India, all the locations in this section had very high-water table level which
made any kind of civil work extremely difficult within stipulated project timelines.

Most of the foundation locations had challenge of sinking of foundations or unequal

settlements. Heavy duty pumps were installed for day and night de-watering activity. Soil
condition was such that conventional pad & chimney was not possible. The solution was
developed through innovative design of raft foundation as a common foundation for all four
legs. This specialized foundation design was developed in consultation with Indian Institute of
Technology at Guwahati which is a premium technological educational institution in India and
have huge experience of foundations in this area. This solution has helped in ramping up the
execution work and reduced the time of each foundation by 50% when compared to
conventional design. Raft foundation under construction in (Figure 14).

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 Figure 14: Raft foundation under construction

2.4 Environmental challenges in selection of location, construction of substation and innovative

solutions

Availability of land in the dense forest was the biggest challenge for the substation layout with
incoming and outgoing transmission lines. Challenge was not only to select the land for
Substation but making an access road to transport very heavy substation equipment like
transformers and reactors from the manufacturers factory which was more than 1000 kms away.

Finally, a land was selected which had rubber plantation and full of dangerous leaches and
other insects. All trees were cut and leveled to accommodate the substation layout. Soil tests
were carried out and the results indicated low values, hence group of piles were designed to
transfer the heavy loads to the stable strata. Entire soil stabilisation was carried out and internal
roads were made for the placement of heavy transformers and reactors on the respective
foundations. The entire approach road to the substation was reconstructed with suitable slope
so that the loaded vehicles can reach easily. Substation construction in progress is shown in
(Figure 15).

Due to grid constraints, one of the 400/132 kV substation was charged from the 132KV side
and subsequently connected to the 400kV line. A detailed study was done to understand the
charging currents and Interconnecting transformer stability in the event of charging from a very
weak 132kV network. Charging of 125 MVAR Bus Reactor at 400kV Level was done using
innovative state-of-the-art SPS protection scheme as per grid operator requirement as shown in
(Figure 16, Figure 17).

Figure 15: Substation under construction

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 Figure 16: Surajmaninagar substation Figure 17: Surajmaninagar Substation other
view

2.5 Challenges of wildlife protection

In Assam, the transmission corridor intersects traditional elephant corridors. It was expected to
be a challenge of Human - Elephant conflict, accordingly, it was ensured to protect wildlife by
consulting Professor Surendra Varma, an elephant behavior scientist from Indian Institute of
Science, to eliminate potential incidents. This included maintaining litter free camp sites,
raising the tents above the ground level to avoid snakes, and other animals from entering the
tents. The overall tower footprint was minimized, and the overall tower height was raised to
permit free movement of Elephants under them. This contributed to the safety of the workers
and ensured that no elephant goes through any trauma resulting from these conflicts. Elephant
movement near site is shown in (Figure 18) and Training by professor is shown in (Figure 19).

Figure 18: Movement of Elephants near Figure 19: Training by Elephant behaviour
construction site professor

2.6 Medical testing of all workmen at the construction site during COVID pandemic

Temporary base camps at strategic locations were constructed for housing the skilled during the
COVID pandemic. Their health and safety considerations during the entire construction period
were high on priority. Full medical facility was created for regular health checkup and
vaccination at site for all workers. Testing in progress as shown in (Figure 20, Figure 21).

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 Figure 20: Medical testing at site Figure 21: Temperature check at site

2.7 Review of project progress and acknowledgement of hard work

COVID pandemic created a panic, travel restrictions, lockdowns which had created lot of
anxiety and had an adverse impact on the project progress. It was extremely important to keep
the workers motivated by acknowledging their hard work and at the same time conduct review
of project progress by the management team as shown in (Figure 22, Figure 23) [1]

Figure 22: Project discussion by management Figure 23: appreciation & motivation

3. Conclusion

NER II project, first of its kind, is an example of best of technological innovations and out of
box thinking minds, which resulted in North - East - Region emerging brighter on power map of
India along with enhanced adequacy and reliability of power systems in the region. All the
transmission lines and the connecting substation were successfully completed and the lines
were charged in the first attempt without any tripping.

Realizing to a factor of sustainable and affordable energy delivery, connecting the North-Eastern-
Region with the National Grid, which in its own way contributes to one of the Sustainable
Development Goals of “Affordable & Clean Energy”, along with creating a social impact of saving
huge forest area in the present scenario of global warming.

Project achieved the defined objective of minimum forest and environment impact by avoiding
an additional corridor and saved 60,900 tress, considerable reduction of CO2 emissions to the
tune of 655 tons on a yearly basis. Multi-circuit towers reduced the utilization of forest land by
102 hectares (1.02 million sq. mtr.). These are all indicators of not only the business process,
but also, long-term sustainable impact on the environment & climate. Trees were planted in all
Substation peripheries to reduce the carbon footprint. Project Quality health index was

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monitored on monthly basis.

All the above actions resulted into NER-II project receiving a Golden Peacock Awards 2020 for
Occupational Health and Safety and IMPA Global project Excellence Award.

4. Acknowledgement

Authors are thankful to the top management of Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd, for giving their
support and approval for submission of this paper.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Project report on NER-II (Nilotpal Mallick, April 29, 2021)

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