Energy Minister inaugurates CPEC power project, lauds CPEC plan

Islamabad: Pakistani Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar has inaugurated the high-power testing of 660kV Matiari-Lahore High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Line project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Addressing the virtual inauguration ceremony, Azhar said this transmission line will bring stability to the power sector.

“The project will also provide relief to the people of Pakistan. CPEC will promote connectivity in the region and generate numerous employment opportunities in the country. The government is committed to timely completion of power projects under the CPEC,” he said.

The minister said Pakistan and China enjoyed strong friendship and both the countries erre cooperating in different sectors including health, education, power, trade and other CPEC related projects.

Hammad Azhar has said the present government had been actively pursuing CPEC projects for early their completion.

The minister said CPEC was of utmost importance for Pakistan as it would enable the country to enhance industrial production, upgrade energy and communication infrastructure and improve connectivity within the region.

“CPEC has generated number of employments and investment opportunities in Pakistan and beyond. The government is committed to providing basic necessities to the masses through its power projects. The government has performed well in last 3 years and it has attained various projects on different fronts,” he said.

Hammad Azhar said the government had also worked to improve electricity transmission system in the country and a record 24,633 MW power was transmitted in current month through its national power system. He said Matiari Lahore HVDC project was now successfully functional.

He appreciated the hard work of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Pak-Matiari-Lahore Transmission Company (Pvt) Ltd (PMLTC) and State Grid Corporation of China for making the project a huge success.

He said the friendship between Pakistan and China was spanned over seven decades started in 1951 when the first high level official delegation visited China.

“We have also celebrated the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan recently. The friendship between the two countries is expanded in different sectors like education, power sector, tourism, trade, defense, health along with CPEC projects,” he observed.

He said the 660kV HVDC transmission line was a new technology in our current AC transmission infrastructure. The transmission line would evacuate power from power plants located in Sindh to the North load centers. Thus, bringing stability in the power system and enhancing the transmission capability to overcome the power crisis in Pakistan. He said the project was continued despite the pandemic and was successfully completed. The project would bring relief to the consumers, he said.

Speaking on the occasion Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong congratulated NTDC Pakistan and State Grid Corporation of China for the successful completion of high power test for Matiari-Lahore HVDC Project.

He also expressed sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Energy , CPEC Authority, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and China National Energy Administration for the unremitting support and convenience provided.

“Matiari-Lahore HVDC Project is the only power transmission project in the CPEC priority list, as well as the first HVDC transmission project in Pakistan, devoting itself to address the bottleneck of electricity transmission from south to north and upgrading the layout of Pakistan national grid, ” he said.

The envoy said over 1,300 Chinese engineers and technicians along with 6500 Pakistani workers overcame the impact of the pandemic and intensively worked together. They successfully implemented low-power test and High-power test, and smoothly made it into the new phase of High-power trial run operation in spite of the difficulties and obstacles, presenting us a good interpretation of China speed in Pakistan, the ambassador said.

He said up to now, CPEC had attained $25.4 billion investment in Pakistan, which increases for Pakistan as much as 5,200 MW of installed power generation capacity, 886,000 meters of national power transmission line, 510 kilometers of highway, and 75,000 jobs created while in the peak time of construction.

He said that due to its tremendous contributions to the Pakistan’s economic and social development, CPEC gains widespread praises from the whole society of Pakistan and attracts extensive attention from international community as well.

He said at present, CPEC moved up to the new phase of high quality development, focusing on industry, agriculture and livelihood cooperation.

“As we know, stable power supply is the foundation of industrialization and industrial cooperation. For that purpose, the project, under the strong guidance and leadership of China National Energy Administration and State Grid, is supposed to well operated and maintained, functioning as the main artery to transmit the power from south to north, and be gradually adapted to localization,” he said.

The Ambassador expressed the hope the Matiari-Lahore Transmission Company could make further study with the Pakistani counterpart on how to deepen and expand the power transmission cooperation to meet the demand of the local economy and community, making more contribution to the high quality development of CPEC.

He said the year of 2021 marked the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relationship between China and Pakistan. Over the past 70 years, no matter how the international landscape, regional situation and domestic situation of the two countries changed, the two sides have always trusted and supported each other, and the bilateral relationship becomes a model with different social systems, different historic background, he said.

The Ambassador said China was willing to work closely with Pakistan to well implement the consensus reached by leaders of two countries, and continuously advance the progress of CPEC, enriching the all-weather strategic partnership and building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in new era.

The ceremony was attended by Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H Farooqi, Chairman CPEC Authority Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa (retd), Secretary Power Division Ali Raza Bhutta, MD PPIB Shah Jahan Mirza, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PMLTC and others. Senior Chinese officials also participated through Video link from China.

This week, Prime Minister Imran Khan set up Pak-China Relations Steering Committee to remove hurdles in the execution of CPEC projects.

“In order to streamline and expedite coordination, finalisation and execution of CPEC projects, the prime minister has been pleased to constitute Pak-China Relations Steering Committee,” read an order issued by the PM’s Office.

The 15-member committee comprises representatives of the government, armed forces and intelligence agencies. This makes the body different from the Cabinet Committee on CPEC.