220kV Nawabshah Substation: Rs 4.489 billion financing may be arranged from ADB

Federal government is likely to arrange Rs 4.489 billion foreign financing from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 220kV Nawabshah Substation.

The total cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 6.291 billion. Government would finance Rs 1.801 billion from its own resources whereas the foreign exchange component (FEC) of the project has been put at Rs 4.489 billion.

According to official documents of the project, the foreign financing for the project has been proposed to be received from ADB under Multi Tranche Financing Facility-III (MTFF-III).

The main objective of the project is construction of Nawabshah Grid Station at 220kV level along with associated transmission lines to meet with the additional load demand & voltage profile improvement of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESC) area.

Execution of the proposed project will result in improvement of voltage profile at/around the proposed Nawabshah substation and reduction in transmission system losses as well as reduction in the loading of 500/220kV and 220/132kV transformers at Dadu and 220kV Mirpurkhas grid stations.

Also, it reduces loading of 220kV D/C transmission line from Hala Road to Jamshoro grid station and improvement in reliability of NTDC and HESCO system networks.

About the project objectives, documents indicted that the transmission system of the country is overloaded and not capable to cope with the increasing power demand. In near future thousands of megawatts addition in the system would result in frequent tripping and heavy breakdowns. Resultantly, enhancement in transmission and transformation capacity of NTDC system is required.

The power sector aim is to provide reliable, uninterrupted power to its consumers. 'Keeping in view the present loading position and increasing trend of the power demand in near future, immediate requirement has been established to enhance the capacity of the existing grid stations by addition, upgrade and augmentation of 132kV, 220kV and 500kV transformers.

Documents showed that the proposed project will lead to improve voltage profile, system reliability of network and reduction in the loading of power transformers. The proposed scheme will also result in overall power system efficiency and stability to deliver adequate and quality power to the consumers of HESCO / SEPCO area.

Government allocated Rs 200 million in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the current financial year for the project, which has been scheduled to be completed in four years.