The 500kV Lahore (North) grid station is expected to be partially operational by next month, facilitating the evacuation of power from the Matiari-Lahore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line. This will allow electricity to be distributed to various cities in the Gujranwala division through the 500kV Nokhar grid station and nearby transmission lines in Gakhar, Gujranwala.
The project, initially slated for completion last summer, faced delays due to land acquisition challenges and administrative hurdles. However, sources from the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) reported that the newly formed board of directors (BoD) addressed these issues, resolving most of the problems that were holding up progress.
“The transmission lines are already in place, but the grid station was delayed due to land acquisition problems, as some landowners took legal action. Now, there are no further issues,” explained an official from NTDC on Saturday.
Matiari-Lahore Line to Transmit 4,000MW by March
Currently, the 4,000MW Matiari-Lahore HVDC transmission line is transmitting 2,200MW of electricity. The power is first converted to Direct Current (DC) at the Matiari converter station, and then converted back to Alternating Current (AC) at the Lahore converter station for distribution to AC transmission lines.
Four lines from the Matiari-Lahore HVDC line’s Balloki converter station have been completed. Two of these connect to the 500kV New Lahore Sarfraz Nagar (Phoolnagar) grid station for power supply to Lahore and surrounding areas, while one line leads to the Nokhar (Gujranwala) grid station and the final one connects to the motorway near Sheikhupura. The combined length of the lines to Nokhar and the motorway is 113 km, and these were completed in December last year.
A senior NTDC official mentioned that the Matiari-Lahore line has an installed capacity of 4,000MW, with current power transmission at 2,200MW. However, this will increase by 400MW once the North Lahore grid station’s transformer and connectors are installed and partially commissioned in the coming days.
By March next year, three additional transformers will be installed, allowing for a total of 1,200MW to be transmitted from the HVDC line. The full commissioning of the project is expected by March, although delays in the importation of equipment could affect the timeline.
This project is being carried out under the Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme – Tranche-3, funded in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
