Lahore: The National Transmission and Despatch Company has acquired a PKR 6.4 billion soft loan for the construction of a 220/132kV sub/grid station and its allied transmission lines — with the project being geared for the production of clean renewable energy, according to news sources.
The project involves the installation of 19 wind power plants at the Jhimpir wind corridor in Sindh. To this effect, the PC-1 cost of the Jhimpir-II project was PKR 10.753 billion and required funding amounting to PKR 6.40 billion. Similarly, in order to meet the growing requirements of power in Gharo-Jhimpir, the 220kV grid station’s power generation capacity will be enhanced to 500kV in the future.
Reportedly, the project is
expected to add 956MW of electricity to the national grid. Additionally, the
loan amount was acquired from three major banks, including the Habib Bank,
National Bank and Bank Islami.
According to the NTDC spokesman, this is the first time the company has managed to secure a loan on its own; devoid of any guarantees from the Government of Pakistan (GOP). Previously, the NTDC had to depend on the GOP to secure loans from the local market.
