Nowshera 500kV Grid project will match Pakistan’s renewable energy plan, says a report published by Gwadar Pro on Sunday.
“The project is a priority sub-project of the First National Transmission System Modernization Project in Pakistan, which was financed by the World Bank (WB).
It would significantly improve Pakistan’s aging power grid and expand transmission and transformation capacity to match the renewable energy plans,” manager of Nowshera project told Gwadar Pro in an exclusive interview.
On December 1, China National Technical Imp.&Exp. Co. (CNTIC) signed the EPC contract for the Nowshera 500kV Grid project with NTDCL. According to the contract, CNTIC will be responsible for the design, supply, installation, commissioning and construction of a new 500kV grid station.
CNTIC told Gwadar Pro that the project was the company’s fourth contract in Pakistan this year. Located in KP province, Nowshera Project, as a large ultra-high voltage hub substation, will have a significant impact on the progress of energy modernization in Pakistan, thus becoming one of the landmark projects of the Pakistani government’s focus.
Due to the strategic importance of the project and its role as a crucial node of the power grid, the request for construction period is very strict.
The contract stipulates a construction period of 24 months. “Under the situation of the epidemic, how to strictly control the construction period is an important challenge of the project,” the manager said.
Pakistan is working towards its goal of providing affordable and reliable electricity to all citizens by 2030. This ambitious plan requires coordinated and sustained efforts by the federal and provincial governments to achieve the expected scale of renewable energy.
The plan calls for adding more than 24,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, and poses a great challenge to domestic transmission and transformation systems.
CNTIC said, the level of power grid is the decisive factor restricting the development of renewable energy in Pakistan.
Therefore, Nowshera as the first component and an important priority sub-project of the First National Transmission System Modernization Project financed by WB, will significantly increase the capacity of Pakistan’s electricity grid and lay a foundation for further development of renewable energy.
In addition, this project will provide livelihood and employment as well. CNTIC disclosed that the project will recruit and train a number of local staff.
“The project will realize localization of employees, and the design and construction organization of the project will be basically completed by local employees,” the manager said, “We are ready to join hands with Pakistan to help power transmission, serve better lives and contribute to the infrastructure construction of power grid under BRI and CPEC.”
