LAHORE: Minister for Energy (Power Division) Khurram Dastgir Khan launched the construction of two mega projects of new grid stations on Saturday.
He said technical improvements in grid stations would reduce technical losses. Already, he said, the cascading system adopted at the Lahore-Matiari transmission line helped control a power blackout that occurred in the Southern part of the country and was redressed within 24 hours last week.
According to Dastgir, the grid stations near Sheikhupura would provide electricity to tube wells as well, which would be completed within 630 days.
He said all such projects will bring prosperity to the country in the future. The objective is to provide infrastructure for the development of the country and these grid stations would play a vital role in this regard.
He dispelled the impression that Pakistan was under economic turmoil, saying that all such projects are manifestations of the government’s commitment to overcoming adverse situations and circumstances. He said there was media hype of economic mess but our projects are proving that Pakistan is growing on the ground.
The federal minister said indigenous sources, including solar, hydel, wind, nuclear, and coal, would be utilized to generate electricity. Thar coal will add 2000 megawatts of electricity to the system within a year, he added.
He said similar projects would also be launched in Balochistan. The government is committed to ensuring the growth of the country in all circumstances, he added.
Dastgir inaugurates 220kV grid station in Jhimpir
He said the National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC) is focused to reduce system and line losses through these two projects and improve the voltage profile of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), besides providing uninterrupted supply to the Quaid-e-Azam Business Park — an under-construction special economic zone, near Sheikhupura on Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2).
The first project titled ‘500/220/132kV Lahore North Substation and Associated 500kV & 220kV Transmission Lines Project’ is being launched near Seekham Adda on Sheikhupura-Muridke Road, while the second one will be at Quaid-e-Azam Business Park (QABP).
The Lahore north substation project will be executed in funding collaboration of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under loan No3677-Pak: Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme — Tranche-3. Under the ADB loan scheme, the project has been named as procurement of plant — design, supply, installation and commissioning of 500/220/132 Lahore north substation and extension works at 500/220/132kV Nokhar substation.
The contract for the construction of Rs20.732 billion (PC-1 cost) Lahore north substation has been awarded to a leading Chinese firm (M/S CET, China), which will be complete by March 2024. The project will include the installation of three huge transformers of 750MVA and as many as 250MVA capacity. The project’s main objective is to meet the Lesco region’s power demand and strengthen the NTDC system. It will help improve the voltage profile at the proposed Lahore North substation, especially in the 132kV network of Lesco.
It will cause a reduction in the loading/overloading of 500/220 kV and 220/132 kV system at the Lahore Old (Sheikhupura), Nokhar/Gujranwala, and Lahore South substations. The project will further improve the reliability of the NTDC and Lesco system networks, besides providing an additional source of power supply to meet the growing demand of Lesco.
It will help reduce the Lesco and NTDC system losses by 36.6MW. It will further reduce forced load shedding in the Lesco region. The second project titled “Construction of 220/132KV Quaid-e-Azam Business Park substation” is being executed under contract No NOR-121W3-2022 (civil works, erection, testing, and commissioning of grid station near Sheikhupura).
The scope of the project is to construct the substation having two transformers — one of 250MVA and the other of 220/132kV. The project proposal was floated by the Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) — a regulator of the QABP that has also been declared as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) by the government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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