KP, private company sign accord to establish own transmission line

PESHAWAR: The government of Khyber Pakhtun- khwa on Friday signed an agreement with a private sector company to establish its own power transmission line.

“The Khyber Pakhtun- khwa, 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,” said an official communique.

A formal ceremony in this regard was held at the Chief Minister’s House, 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 Madyan, which will be completed within the next one and half year at an estimated cost of Rs8 billion.

“This transmission line will help link the 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,” said an official.

The project on completion is expected to generate approximately Rs7 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 Madyan to Chakdara. Currently, several hydropower projects with generating capacity of hundreds of megawatts are underway in the Swat Corridor.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur termed this power transmission line project as of vital importance for the sustainable development of the province. He added that it was 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, he said, the provincial government will be able to provide cheap electricity to local industries which will help attract more investors to the province.

Ali Amin Gandapur said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had immense potential for hydropower generation, and his government in the province was 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.