CET acquires land in Pakistan for power transmission project

• 7 years ago (2017-01-23)
• David Flin

Asia 859 Transmission 181

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The Pakistan Government has passed ownership of two pieces of land, each measuring 175 acres, to the China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company (CET), owned by the State Grid Corporation of China. CET will be constructing converter stations on the land for the $1.57 billion Matiari-Lahore 660kV High Voltage DC transmission line.

The Matiari-Lahore transmission line, a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is the country’s first mega project of its kind based on direct current. The line will have the capacity to transmit about 4000 MW.

The converter station to be built in Hyderabad will convert AC to DC for onward transmission. The Lahore converter station will convert DC into AC for onward supply to consumers by the respective distribution companies.

An official from the Ministry of Water and Power said: “This project will be completed on a fast-track basis. Initiation of civil work of the two converter stations hints that the project will be completed in October 2019, as per deadline.”

Under the terms of the agreement, CET will execute the project on a BOT basis. After operating the project for 25 years and recovery of the total cost, the contractor will hand over the project to the government. However, the task of the line’s operation and maintenance will be the responsibility of NTDCL.