Federal Minister for Power Eng. Khurram Dastgir Khan laid the foundation stone of 500 kV Maira Switching Station near Kahuta on Thursday, according to the National Transmission and Dispatch Co. (NTDC).
The Switching Station would cost around Rs7 billion and will be constructed over an area of 80 acres of land. China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd. (CET) is the contractor of the project.
This will be the second such switching station to be added to the system in the last three years, NTDC said. Maira Switching Station was commissioned in March 2019, it added.
The Switching Station is expected to be completed in 20 months and will help the evacuation of clean, reliable and affordable energy to the National Grid. It would also reduce load shedding in the country and bring basket price of electricity down, NTDC further said.
The project will serve as an interconnection for evacuation of power from Neelum Jhelum (969 MW), Karot (720 MW), Mahl (640 MW), Azad Pattan (700.7 MW) and Kohala (1124 MW) hydropower projects.
On the occasion, MD NTDC Engr. Dr. Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan said that the project site had been handed over to the contractor on October 4, 2022. Asian Development Bank (ADB) financed the project.
