LAHORE: The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has pledged to remove most of the system constraints in its 220kv and 500kv grids and transmission system before the beginning of summer.

“In order to cater to the increased demand of electricity during summer, this year, the NTDC is all set to overcome the system constraints on identified 500kV and 220kV grid stations and transmission lines across the country. A 250 Mega Volt Amp (MVA) transformer has been added to the 220kV Ghazi Grid Station in Lahore. The upgrade/addition will result in ending of overloading of the system and will provide uninterrupted power supply to Lesco consumers with improved voltage level,” an NTDC official told Dawn.

In the first phase of removing constraints, a 450MVA transformer was added to and energised at the 500kV Jamshoro Grid Station in January to overcome overloading during minimum power generation of wind power plants. The official said the augmentation work on 500kV Bhikki-New Lahore transmission line and upgrade of 220kV Ravi and Shalamar-Lahore transmission lines was also in progress and would be completed at the earliest.

“The company has also managed to resolve the constraint issues in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad with the addition of 750MVA transformer at 500kV grid station in Rawat, which resulted in smooth power supply to Islamabad Electric Supply Company consumers in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Chakwal,” he claimed.

Likewise, the official said, the installation of a 600MVA transformer at 500kV Gatti (Faisalabad) Grid Station has played a vital role in system stability and managed to reduce overloading considerably.

Meanwhile, the company claimed that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has expressed interest in financing development projects of NTDC in line with the government’s priorities. A spokesman said an AIIB delegation visited the NTDC head office in Lahore and expressed interest in funding projects.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2020