Lahore: The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) on Tuesday stated that the development work on the Matiari-Lahore transmission line, with a capacity to convey 660 kilovolts (kV) of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC), will be completed soon, a news source reported. As per the publication, an NTDC spokesperson said that 86 percent of the work, including tower foundations, had achieved completion status.
NTDC Deputy Managing Director Wajahat Saeed Rana launched the stringing activity of conductor at Hasilpur, Punjab. He said that the transmission line stretched over 890 kilometres and was being developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He said further that the NTDC engineers along with the collaborating companies and sub-contractors were working hard to meet the strict deadline for the project completion.
Rana said that the project had bi-pole HVDC technology, three repeater stations, two convertor stations in Balloki, Punjab, and Matiari, Sindh, as well as two grounding electrodes stations. The transmission line will generate 4,000 megawatts of electric power produced from coal-based power projects at Thar and reduce the massive foreign exchange by improving indigenous coal-based power generation.
According to the earlier assessments, the Matiari-Lahore transmission line was expected to begin its operation by March 2021. Now it appears the project will be completed before the given timeline.
