The latest in a series of Chinese investments in its South Asian neighbor, State Grid of China will help build a 4,000 MW power transmission line in Pakistan in a project valued at $1.5 billion.
The high-capacity transmission line will link Matiari town in the south, near a new power station, to Lahore city in the east, a key link in transmission infrastructure and it will be the first of its kind in Pakistan.
An agreement on the project was signed in Beijing between Mohammad Younus Dagha, secretary of water and power, and Shu Yinbiao, chairman of State Grid Corporation of China, the government said in a statement.
Construction will begin in January, and should take about 20 months, said a spokesman for the Pakistani prime minister’s office.
Pakistan has been plagued by a shortage of electricity for years, with widespread rolling blackouts in both rural and urban areas. Government of Pakistan claims that 11000MW shall be added into the national grid by 2018 out of which 5000MW is from CPEC projects while the remaining 6000MW is from non CPEC projects. EP has talked to some senior power engineers regarding the issue of transmission and dispatch. Experts are still of the view that the current transmission system is unable even to bear the current load fully and if as per the government claim, 11000MW more electricity is added into the national grid, the transmission and dispatch system will not allow the smooth flow. Therefore, an up gradation and more reliable transmission system is the need of the time.
This development of 4000MW transmission line is being taken seriously as this can be the backbone of the increased generation capacity for overcoming power shortages in the country. This project is also the outcome of the 6th joint meeting between Pakistan and china on CPEC related issues.
