By Abdul Ghani

Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) has completed a major portfolio of foreign-funded power distribution projects, including the construction of new 132kV grid stations, conversion of existing 66kV facilities, and expansion of transmission infrastructure, according to a document available with Wealth Pakistan.

The document shows that four major Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Programme projects financed through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been completed.

Under the completed projects, MEPCO established eight new 132kV grid stations and upgraded 12 existing grid stations from 66kV to 132kV to strengthen the electricity distribution network and improve the system's capacity.

The projects also included adding 28 power transformer/line bays and augmenting 73 power transformers.

A major component of the investment was to construct new transmission infrastructure. The four projects collectively provided approximately 241 kilometres of new transmission lines, including 6.43km under the first project, 25.75km under the second, 177.14km under the third and 31.7km under the fourth.

The official document shows that the four projects had a combined loan amount of $107.17 million, while disbursements stood at $95.38 million. The total rupee disbursement recorded against the projects was Rs9.65 billion.

The first project included one new 132kV grid station, two 66kV-to-132kV conversions, seven additional transformer/line bays, four transformer augmentations and 6.43km of transmission lines.

The second project provided two new 132kV grid stations and 25.75km of transmission lines, while the third phase added two new grid stations and 177.14km of transmission infrastructure.

The fourth project included three new 132kV grid stations, one conversion from 66kV to 132kV, 17 additional transformer/line bays, augmentation of 47 power transformers and another 31.7km of transmission lines.

Credit: INP-WealthPk