ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The ministry of water and power will undertake two major energy projects, one in Punjab and the other in Balochistan at a cost of Rs10.5 billion.

Official sources told Dawn on Friday that the Central Working Development Party (CDWP) of the Planning Commission will be meeting here on Saturday to consider and approve about 25 development projects worth Rs30 billion including two energy projects in Punjab and Balochistan.

Most of these projects are in health, governance, energy, transport and communication and housing sectors. In the energy (sub-sector power) 500 kv Muzaffargarh-Gatti Transmission Line and substation expansion is expected to be approved by the CDWP. This Rs6.7 billion project also involves Rs4.9 billion foreign exchange component (FEC). The project also envisages the installation of necessary line facilities, shunt reactor and transformers.

Officials said that currently most of the power requirements of Faisalabad area is met from the Tarbela in the high water months whereas in low water months when the hydroelectric generation was the minimum, the power demand was met from Multan/Muzaffargarh thermal power stations.

The existing lines from Muzaffargarh/Multan are fully loaded and there is no contingency provision. In case of any power breakdown in any section of the lines between Muzaffargarh and Gatti, the other line will not be able to handle the load and hence tripping may occur. Therefore, in order to provide a contingency cover, the proposed line has been recommended by the ministry of water and power.

Wapda has also proposed to install a 450MW combined cycle power plant at Faisalabad besides a couple of power plants in private sector are also in the process with Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB).

For Balochistan, Wapda has proposed Rs3.8 billion 220 KV grid station at Khuzdar, 220 KV Dadu-Khuzdar double Circuit transmission line with 132KV system expansion.

At present there is a surplus capacity of the order of 1500- 2000MW in high water months. However, in low water months, there is no surplus electricity. With the commissioning of Ghazi Brotha hydropower project (1450 MW), the existing capacity will meet the requirement of the country up to 2005-06.