China to help build 4,000 MW power transmission line in Pakistan
The transmission line will link north-south National Grid with a capacity to transmit 4,000MWs.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - China would invest $1.5 billion in HVDC (High Voltage, Direct Current) Transmission Line between Matiari and Lahore.
An agreement to this effect was signed in Beijing on Thursday between Secretary Water and Power Mohammad Younus Dagha and Chairman State Grid of China.
The signing ceremony was held in the State Guest House Beijing and witnessed by Federal Ministers and Chief Ministers of Sindh, KP, Balochistan and GB along with the senior Chinese Officials.
The transmission line will link north-south National Grid with a capacity to transmit 4,000MWs. It will be the first such high capacity transmission line in Pakistan.
Construction will begin in January, and should take about 20 months, said a spokesman for the Pakistani prime minister’s office.
Pakistan has been plagued by a shortage of electricity for years, with widespread rolling blackouts in both rural and urban areas.
The government has managed to reduce load shedding - scheduled power outages - in some areas, but production gaps and distribution woes remain.
The project is the latest in a series of big Chinese investments, most of which fall under a planned $55 billion worth of projects for a China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The corridor is a combination of power and infrastructure projects that link western China to Pakistan’s southern port of Gwadar.
Other Chinese investment in Pakistan has included the acquisition of a majority stake by Shanghai Electric of the K-Electric power production and distribution company for $1.8 billion.
Last week, a Chinese-led consortium bought a 40 percent stake of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for an estimated $85 million.
--- with inputs from Reuters
