THE first China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the power evacuation and transmission sector, the 660kV High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Matiari-Lahore transmission line, started commercial operations on Wednesday on its scheduled date.
The project proved its significance and relevance on the very first day of the operation as it saved the country from a major breakdown by protecting the transmission, dispatch and distribution systems from a possible cascading effect due to tripping at Jamshoro.
Contrary to the propaganda unleashed by some vested interests, the CPEC is proving highly beneficial for the economy of Pakistan as the projects completed under its framework are accelerating the pace of progress and development in different sectors.
It is an established fact that the power generation projects completed under the early harvest programme of the CPEC have helped Pakistan get rid of otherwise perennial electricity shortage that hampered economic development and added to the woes of the consumers.
Now this HVDC project would help stabilize the transmission system, shielding it against possible breakdowns and increasing the capacity to sustain more loads by the national transmission system.
This is the first and the biggest HVDC transmission line to evacuate 4,000 megawatts from power plants in the south in direct current (DC) mode, transport and transmit it to Lahore after converting it into alternate current (AC) mode and finally feed it to the distribution systems in the load centres in Punjab.
Managing Director National Transmission and Despatch Company Azaz Ahmad has made a happy announcement that there are now meagre chances of blackouts, breakdowns etc due to system constraints since the entire NTDC transmission and dispatch system has attained stability.
It is also satisfying that the friendly country China is also providing valuable assistance for construction of several hydel power projects, the completion of which would help bring down the overall energy tariff.
Similarly, CPEC is also hugely contributing to improvement of the country’s infrastructure, which would pave the way for increased investment in different spheres of life.
There is, therefore, dire need to focus on completion of all ongoing CPEC projects and finalize plans for its second phase as the country cannot afford to lose a golden opportunity for accelerating the pace of progress and prosperity.
