Grid being set up to import electricity from India

NTDC to use latest technology to avoid power wastage.

LAHORE: Keeping in view possibility of electricity import from India, the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) has stepped up work on a new 220/132-kilovolt Shalimar grid station in Lahore.

“This grid is being set up at the best location to link up with India after the government decides on electricity import, as the site is adjacent to the Grand Trunk (GT) Road and a few kilometres from Wahga border,” said Rasul Khan Mehsud, Managing Director of Pakistan Electric Power Company and NTDC while talking to The Express Tribune.

The area houses various industries including steel re-rolling mills, cottage industry, spare parts manufacturers, flour mills and cold storages and power supply there usually gets disrupted during peak hours.

Latest equipment, which is being used in Europe, would be installed on the new grid to minimise electricity wastage and ensure supply without any interruption in case of voltage fluctuation, Mehsud said. The project, expected to be completed in May next year, will cost an estimated Rs1.5 billion, of which Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has loaned 903.94 million yen (Rs782.64 million) while NTDC has arranged Rs478.32 million.

To connect the Shalimar grid with Ravi grid, NTDC is laying power transmission lines over 9.5 km for which 40 pylons (towers) have been set up.

Following worsening of electricity shortage, Mehsud visited India a couple of months ago and held talks with energy officials for import of 500 megawatts in the first phase. However, the issue has lingered on and the government has not yet taken a final decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2011.