ISLAMABAD: The Ce­n­­tral Development Working Party (CDWP) on Friday cleared three power sector projects worth around Rs59 billion to secure a $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for strengthening ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos).

Presided over by Planning Minister and Deputy Chairman of Plann­ing Commission Ahsan Iqbal, the meeting reques­ted the Executive Com­mit­tee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) to formally approve the projects. In the meanwhile, it asked the Economic Affairs Division to take up approval of the loan with the Manila-based lending agency based on CDWP’s concurrence. The loan will strengthen three Sukkur, Lahore and Multan-based Discos for Rs58.86bn.

Under the current financial rules approved by the National Economic Council (NEC), the CDWP is empowered to approve projects costing up to Rs7.5bn while the projects of higher costs are approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on the recommendations of the CDWP after clearance on technical grounds.

The proposed ADB loan is on top of a series of projects cleared by the CDWP earlier this week for about $1.7bn worth of loans from the World Bank and the ADB.

While presiding over a meeting on Friday, the planning minister direc­ted the Power Division to review the scope of the projects on a techno-economic feasibility basis in consultation with all concerned experts as well as stakeholders and an updated version, incorporating these reviews, be resubmitted to the Ecnec for formal approval. An official statement said that the projects were accorded in-principle approval to strengthen the distribution network and explore funding from ADB.

The first project, “Power Distribution Strengthening Project — Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco )”, was cleared at an estimated cost of Rs9.014bn. The project is proposed to be financed through ADB loan and envisaged conversion of four 66kV grid stations into 132kV, installation of 50,000 three-phase automated meter reading devices, commonly called AMR meters for loads exceeding 5kW, installation of 1,200 Asset Performance Monitoring Systems (APMS) in Sepco and bifurcation 40 feeders to control high technical and administration losses.

The second project pertained to Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) with the same nameplate at a cost of Rs27.613bn and was also recommended to Ecnec for approval. This is proposed as part of the ADB loan (Rs20.32bn) and Lesco’s resources worth Rs7.3bn. It envisaged the construction of five new 132kV grid stations, extension or augmentation of four existing 132kV grid stations, installation of 1600 APMS, 1,328 km of air-bundle cable (ABC) and 131,901 AMI/AMR meters in the Lesco network to improve electricity supply, operational efficiencies and modernize operations and management and reduce losses.

A similar project for Multan Electric Supply Company was also cleared at an estimated cost of Rs22.23bn for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of APMS for 100 kVA and 200kVA general duty distribution transformers and deployment of AMI meters in Multan Electric Supply Company.

The project is also part of the ADB financing. The project envisages installation of 13,323 APMS and 150,000 AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) meters in Mepco. The APMS system will establish real time access to 100 and 200kVA distribution transformers for improved visibility, close monitoring and preventive actions.

AMI meters allow two-way communication between utilities and consumers, enabling remote meter reading, real-time data monitoring, and proactive management of energy distribution.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2024