Chinese company bids for laying of CASA power transmission line

Islamabad: Only a single bid has been received for the laying of power transmission line under the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA)-1000 electricity supply project, according to officials.

Tebian Electric Apparatus (TBEA) has shown interest in laying this transmission line which covers a distance of 750km, 16pc will be in Tajikistan, 75pc in Afghanistan and 9pc through Pakistan.

Bidding for establishment of two converter stations in Pakistan and Tajikistan for power transmission purposes under CASA-1000 project also attracted participation from TBEA. At the moment, these bids are being assessed and afterwards financial bids will also be invited.

Five companies made technical bids for the establish of these two converter stations which had started on May 15th, 2017. TBEA, General Electric, Siemens, ABB and Alstrom were among the companies that had bidden for this project.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has offered $35m initially for this project but will fund the required amount later on. World Bank is also said to have offered to provide some funding for the setting up of the converter station in Pakistan.

An official said, “A technical evaluation is going on and Pakistan and Tajikistan want to open financial bids by the middle of August.”

Under the Casa-1000 Power Project, the government has sanctioned an import of 1,300MW of electricity from central Asian states during summer months from May till September in order to meet the energy deficit which usually peaks during the summer months.

The electricity import is scheduled to begin from 2019 after the layout of transmission lines is completed.

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