The flagship power transmission project of Pakistan under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has become operational according to the timeline of the agreement on 1st September 2021.
In this regard, a ceremony was held at WAPDA House Lahore, attended by NTDC Managing Director Engr Azaz Ahmad and Ms Zhang Lei, President and CEO of PMLTC and officials from both companies.
On the first day of its operation, the project saved the country from a major breakdown by protecting the transmission, dispatch and distribution systems from a possible cascading effect due to tripping at Jamshoro. The system tripped for a while due to a technical fault in Jamshoro (Sindh), leading to power failure in various service areas of K-Electric and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company. “But this Matiari-Lahore HVDC line helped keep the system stable and saved it from a cascading affect to other parts of the country.”
Before the transmission line became operational it underwent many different power tests and commissioning tests (DC station tests) Lahore and Matiari, Mono-pole Low Power System Tests (up to 400MW each pole), Bi-pole Low Power System Tests (up to 800MW bi-pole), Mono-pole High Power Tests (2,200MW each pole), Bi-pole High Power Tests at Maximum Available Power, Special Optional Tests and the trial operation (168hrs) and Capability Demonstration Test (6hrs).
The 878-kilometre 4,000MW project has been completed by PMLTC (Pvt) Limited on Built-Own-Operate-Transfer basis for a period of 25 years. The project will evacuate power from the new generating units located in the south, including Thar coal projects. The HVDC technology is the latest addition to the national grid of Pakistan although it has been widely around the world.
