First tower of Suki Kinari hydro power transmission line erected
The National Transmission and Dispatch Co. (NTDC) successfully erected the first tower of the 75 kilometers long, 500 kV transmission line to evacuate electricity from the Suki Kinari hydro power project, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The 884 megawatts Suki Kinari hydro power plant is a run-of-river facility on a tributary of River Jhelum in KP province. China Gezhouba Group is constructing the power plant of US$2 billion as a priority project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative. NTDC said that it is working to fast track the 500kV Suki Kinari transmission line project and its first tower has been erected. The completion of the project will help evacuate clean and affordable energy from the Suki Kinari Hydro power project to the national grid. The transmission line is being constructed in the tough terrains of KP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), it added. The completion of the project will be achieved before the commissioning of the Suki Kinari HPP as per timelines. The major beneficiaries will be the general public, the industry, and all other consumers, it said. Managing Director NTDC Engr. Dr. Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan directed the NTDC team to accelerate the construction of the transmission line to ensure its completion before the deadline, the company said.