ISLAMABAD: The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) has said that a crucial transmission line from Uch to Sibi in Balochistan is being installed “on a war footing and will be commissioned in December”.

The 220-kilovolt (kV) line spanning 125 kilometres was originally required to be completed before power generation from the 404-megawatt Uch Power Project-II.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif marked the completion of the project at a ceremony in April 2014, without the transmission line necessary to fully supply electricity from it.

The NTDC said power from the plant was being supplied through two alternative circuits. “However, construction work of the 220kV transmission line from Uch to Sibi is being completed on a war footing and will be commissioned in December 2016.”

In a belated statement, the company tried to play down system constraints highlighted by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in a recent annual report and to pass on the responsibility to the distribution companies and a gas firm.

It said that after the 500kV Shikarpur grid station had been energised, constraints of electric supply from the power houses feeding Guddu and Shikarpur had been resolved, whereas the workload of the 500kV Guddu station had also been reduced to 36 per cent.

The NTDC said there were 14 grid stations of 500kV and 35 of 220kV. Of their transformers, five had recorded a maximum load of over 80pc during peak hours in summer and in some cases during faults under contingency conditions.

Of the total 130 transformers of 132kV and 220kV, 90 have maximum recorded load of above 70pc, which, according to the NTDC, is not alarming.

However, the PC-I for augmentation of the transformers from 160MVA to 250MVA has already been submitted and is under process in the Ministry of Water and Power.

It said the constraints in evacuation of power from Engro Power had been removed as 220kV and 500 kV double circuit transmission lines had been commissioned besides the Shikarpur grid station. It also confirmed 180MW Fauji Foundation power dispersal through the NTDC system. Initially the interim arrangement for dispersal of power from Fauji Foundation was provided through a 132kV grid station in Sadiqabad. Later on, Fauji Foundation and Engro were connected to the 220kV Rohri New Grid Station and associated transmission lines.

It said the tripping on the 132kV transmission line between Guddu and Sadiqabad was the responsibility of Mepco, a subordinate-cum-sister distribution company to the NTDC.

Likewise, it said the transmission from Altern Energy was also a responsibility of another sister distribution company of Islamabad. Similarly, the integration of 235MW Liberty Power with the national grid was also the responsibility of yet another distribution company, of Sukkur, the NTDC said and confirmed that it needed “to be improved to avoid trippings”.

The trippings for Habibullah Coastal, said the NTDC, was due to supply fluctuations by the Sui Southern Gas Company. “The problems of LESCO related issues, will be resolved after construction of 220kV Ghazi Grid Station and 500kV Lahore South Grid Station which are likely to be commissioned by June, 2017 and March, 2017 respectively”.

The NTDC said it recorded a maximum generation of 17,430MW on June 19, 2016, which was evacuated through NTDC network.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2016