Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The government of Japan Government has extended the project loan effective period up to 31 December 2024 of the existing loan project “Punjab Transmission and Grid Stations Project (Phase I)”, according to a press release issued here on Monday by the Japanese Embassy in Islamabad.
Earlier the loan agreement was duly signed on 3rd May 2008, according to which Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supported a project-based loan of Japanese Yen 11.943 billion (approx. US$ 119.1 million).
Accordingly, the letter of amendment of the loan agreement was signed between JICA Headquarters, in the capital Tokyo, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Government of Pakistan. In addition, JICA also approved the use of the remaining project loan amount for flood response activities.
The extension of the loan consumption period will make National Transmission and Dispatch Co Ltd (NTDC) able to utilize the remaining balance for the procurement of required materials as replenishment of basic materials in NTDC Warehouses which were promptly utilized for repair and maintenance of the national transmission lines damaged in the devastated flood 2022 in different parts of the country.
Key Objectives of the Loan
The key objectives of this project were to boost the reliability and quality of power supply via the reduction of outages and voltage fluctuation and to address the fast-growing load demand by strengthening transmission systems in Punjab province.
Through JICA assistance, NTDC has built one 500 kV grid station in Rahim Yar Khan district, a 500/220 kV grid station at Faisalabad West coupled with an associated transmission line, and a 220kV GIS grid station at Shalamar area, Lahore along with associated transmission lines.
The recently constructed 500/220 kV grid station at Faisalabad West coupled with the associated transmission line will be made operationalized soon.
Moreover, the sub-stations and transmission lines established under JICA supported project contributed to mitigating the capacity ratio of neighboring substations and transmission systems.
