LAHORE: A comprehensive design for Pakistan’s first 765kV high-voltage transmission line is awaited for completion by the end of December this year.
This would provide the bidding process to be initiated before the launching of civil projects works on the project before June 2019, reports Dawn.
The high-voltage transmission line owned by the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), will provide evacuation of electricity from the Dasu hydropower project and added to the national grid and supply to consumers via 132kV and 11kV distribution systems of the power distribution companies. (Discos).
A senior NTDC official said that the consultants chosen by the company are hard-pressed these days to achieve the duty of designing the project, which is the country’s 1st 765kV line which will ensure evacuation of over 4,000MW of power, including 2,100MW of the Dasu hydropower project’s stage-1.
The official added the project would probably be completed by end of December this year and will allow NTDC to go ahead with the bidding process and other preparators before the commencement of civil works.
Besides laying the country’s first 765kV high-voltage line, NTDC is also overseeing the execution of Matiari-Lahore 660kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line which is the first of its kind being laid in Pakistani by a Chinese company under the auspices of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Matiari-Lahore HVDC transmission line will allow power to be evacuated from the south and transmitted to central and northern parts of the country.
The official disclosed, “Actually, the design work had earlier been undertaken by a Korean firm. But later it couldn’t complete, forcing us to reinitiate the process of awarding the remaining design work to someone else eligible under the law. A couple of months ago, we awarded this work to another company that is busy completing this by December this year.”
He added the 250-km 756 high-voltage line would emerge from Dasu project site and culminate in the west of Islamabad via Mansehra.
And at the last point, it will be attached to the NTDC’s current 500kV system and a grid station will also be established for 765kV/500kV double circuit line.
When asked about the falling insulation level of the 500kV double circuit Port Qasim transmission line which is creating tripping and power supply cuts to the consumers, the official said it was because of deposition of pollutants coming from the sea salt impact and fuel emission from the adjoining K-Electric’s oil-fired power plant.
He explained that the opening stretch of 8-9 km of the line located near the sea and the plant was very important since it required speedy rehabilitation to prevent any untoward incident in near future.
The official told the 55-km long Port Qasim transmission line emerged from its plants and ends at Hub. It then connects the Jamshoro-Guddu transmission lines, he said.
The official added the insulators played a critical role in transmission lines since whenever there was pollution, the insulation level fell, and it takes place due to the falling of a sticky material on it because of a mixture of emissions and air moisture.
He added, “To deal with this issue, the NTDC is working on a pilot project to replace the normal insulators with RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) coated insulators on the first 10-km stretch of towers in the first phase. The coating prevents material from sticking to insulator surface. It is a preferred solution worldwide and reduces the frequency of washing,”
