Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has signed an agreement with a private sector company to establish its own power transmission line
Chitral Times Report
PESHAWAR: As a revolutionary step in the energy sector, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has signed an agreement with a private sector company to establish its own power transmission line. Thus the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, has become the first province in the country to undertake the construction of its own power transmission line.
A formal ceremony in this regard was held the other day at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar, where officials from Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) and the private company M/S Netracon Technologies Ltd. signed the agreement in the presence of the Chief Minister. Besides Provincial cabinet members, high ups of Energy & Power department attended the ceremony.
Under this agreement, 40-kilometer long 132/220 KV transmission line will be laid from Matiltan to Madian, which will be completed within the next one and half year an estimated cost of Rs. 8 billion.
This transmission line will help out the evacuation of electricity generated by the 84 MW Matiltan Hydropower Project and other provincial government projects in Swat to the national grid or supply it at discounted rates to local industries. The project on completion is expected to generate approximately Rs. 7.00 billion annually for the provincial government.
It is worth mentioning here that the aforementioned 40 KM long transmission line is the phase-1 of the integrated study plan of the Swat Corridor Transmission Line project. Under the Phase-II of this project, an additional 80-kilometer line will be laid from Madian to Chakdara. Currently, several hydropower projects with generating capacity of hundreds of megawatts are underway in Swat Corridor.
Addressing the ceremony, Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has termed this power transmission line project as of vital importance for the sustainable development of the province, adding that it is one of the provincial government’s flagship projects and a significant achievement. The Chief Minister stated that the completion of this project would bring about a revolution in the energy and industrial sectors of the province. Through this power transmission line, the provincial government will be able to provide cheap electricity to local industries which will help attracting more investors to the province, he added.
Ali Amin Gandapur further said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has immense potential for hydropower generation, and his government in the province is working to effectively harness this potential to promote development, prosperity, and employment opportunities for the people. The Chief Minister maintained that the provincial government is also working on establishing its own power regulatory authority, which will further strengthen this initiative and help leverage existing hydropower resources as a foundation for provincial growth and development.
The Chief Minister added that his government has approved the implementation of eight flagship projects in various sectors of the province, with this power transmission line being one of the key projects among them.
