ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $189 million loan for construction of high-voltage transmission infrastructure and procurement of materials required for asset management and reduction of transmission system constraints.

The loan will support National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) in meeting growing electricity demand efficiently and reliably at the load centres of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the construction of the transmission network and augmentation of existing substations.

In addition, the equipment and goods to be procured for the project will be used to restore transmission lines damaged by recent floods and other damages identified in the disaster recovery framework under preparation by the government with support from the ADB, World Bank, EU and the UN.

The project will have two outputs that will include six subprojects to add a total of 2,680MVA in substation capacity and about 350km of transmission lines and procurement of goods for operation and maintenance of NTDC assets to reduce substation breakouts.

An additional electricity sale of 13,481GWh and associated transmission network loss reduction of 135GWh are expected after commissioning of the project in 2026.

An ADB report said the project is expected to have the positive medium- to long-term impact on the overall power sector and economy of the country by addressing emerging needs of the transmission network post floods, scaling up the transmission infrastructure to be on a par with the increasing generation capacity contributing to the revival of post-pandemic and post-calamity economy of the country and reduction of the circular debt through reliable and unconstrained electricity transmission.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2022