More than 0.4 million people in Gwadar will be relieved of appalling power woes as all electrification and configuration work for receiving 100 MW Iranian electricity to power up Gwadar will be completed in 15 days. According to a report published by Gwadar Pro on Wednesday, the project cost approximately Rs. 500 million. Gwadar City, Gwadar Port, Free Zones, and Gwadar District will have access to electricity beginning March 1st. All electrification works consist of the installation of a double circuit 132 KV transmission line from Kalatu (Pakistan city) near Gabd-Remdan (Pak-Iran border) to Jiwani Grid Station, erection of around 70 power polls, evacuation, foundation concreting and backfilling foundations, earthling and civil works. Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), operating as a power distribution company and dealing with the power supply system, National Transmission National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) have collaborated to complete the project.

According to a QESCO official, infrastructure has been completed on the Iranian side for many years. Infrastructure was also ready from Jiwani to Gwadar, according to him. "However, transmission line equipment from the Pakistan-Iran border area of Kalatu near Gabd-Remdan to Jiwani was missing," he added.  It is expected that the remaining procedures and formalities will be completed in 10 to 15 days, and the project will be inaugurated on March 1st, ensuring a stable and low-cost 100 MW power supply from Iran to Gwadar. “Initially the transmission lines were single circuit with configuration of three conductors for the three phases. Given the outlook of the new project, transmission lines are a double circuit configuration with six conductors (three phases for each circuit).  When greater reliability is required, double circuits are used.

This mode of transmission allows for the transfer of more power over a given distance. As a result, transmission is less expensive, requires less land, and is considered ideal from an ecological and aesthetic standpoint,"he explained. It is a new electricity infrastructure connecting Iran's Polan city to Kalatu Gabd-Remdan, Jiwani, and Gwadar, through which Gwadar will receive 100 MW from Iran. It is the closest to the Iranian border, which is only 40 kilometers away. Old power infrastructure is also available from the Pak-Iran border Panjgur to Gwadar, providing around 40-70 MW. However, due to the long distance of around 400 kilometers from the Pak-Iran border to Gwadar, the share of other districts of Makran division, power losses, and power outages, Gwadar is always plunged into darkness because it does not receive regular and stable power. 

Zumurd Baloch, a Gwadar City resident, told Gwadar Pro that the old power system from the Pakistan-Iran border near Panjgur to Gwadar was lopsided and had traumatized the lives of ordinary people due to system failure. Meanwhile, he breathed a sigh of relief over a new transmission line from the Pak-Iran border at Kalatu near Gabd-Remdan to Jiwani and Gwadar, claiming that it would end long-hour power outages. Another resident, Mohsin Jan, a businessman, said that business in Gwadar had been languishing in the backdrop of sporadic availability of electricity. The new transmission line will be a breath of fresh air for the Gwadar industry and trade.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP