NTDC secures Rs6.4b financing

Amount will be spent on sub-station, transmission lines

ISLAMABAD:

The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has secured a Rs6.4 billion financing facility for the construction of a 220/132-kilovolt sub-station and 35km-long allied transmission lines to evacuate 1,224 megawatts of clean renewable energy from wind power plants at the Jhimpir corridor.

According to a statement released on Tuesday, the financing has been secured from a consortium of local banks.

Speaking at an agreement signing ceremony, NTDC Managing Director Muhammad Ayub said that it was for the first time that NTDC was exploring the option of raising a financial facility from its own resources (balance sheet) without government guarantee.

“Previously, the company had relied on government of Pakistan’s guaranteed loans from the local market,” he said. “This facility will be a precursor to more funding for the upcoming NTDC projects.”

He added that PC-1 cost of the Jhimpir-II project was estimated at Rs10.75 billion, of which funding of Rs6.4 billion was required. The project will have sufficient capacity to transmit more electricity in future. To meet future development needs of the Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor, the 220kV grid station will be upgraded to 500kV in the coming years. NTDC Deputy Managing Director Safdar Ali, Chief Financial Officer Wasim Saadat and senior officials of banks were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2021.

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