ISLAMABAD
Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) have issued a Letter of Support (LOS) to the 660 kV Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Line Project.
The Project will have bipolar HVDC technology, having approximately 880 kilometres length, with two converter stations one each at both Matiari and Lahore ends. The line will have a transfer capability of transmitting 4000 MW.
Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line Project is the first ever transmission line project in the private sector in Pakistan and the first project under the Transmission Line Policy 2015 approved by the government to incentivise the private sector for development of transmission lines in order to support huge new power generation.
Being implemented under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement, the project sponsor is China Equipment and Technology Corporation (CET), which is a subsidiary of State Grid Cooperation of China (SGCC).
The Project is being developed on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis for a term of 25 years. NEPRA has approved its tariff on May 4, 2017, and the Letter of Support (LOS) has been issued on August 4, 2017, after which the sponsors are required to achieve financial close. The commercial operations of the project are targeted in 2020.
The project will primarily be used for evacuation of power from Thar-based power generation projects which is another success of the present government to utilise the unused indigenous coal at Thar, lying unexploited for decades.
Currently, PPIB is handling a portfolio of thirty-two (32) multiple fuel (coal, hydro and R-LNG) based independent power projects (IPPs) having a cumulative capacity of more than 19,500 MW worth multi-billion dollars.
The HVDC transmission system is considered technically and economically more viable for power transmission over longer distances due to its higher transmission capacity, higher efficiency, lower losses and cost effectiveness etc. The Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line will be the first of its kind HVDC transmission line in Pakistan.
