ISLAMABAD – Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Pakistan on Friday signed an agreement to invest $242 million in improving power distribution system in Pakistan. The investment is part of the $810 million ‘Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program’ approved in 2008.
The multi tranche financing facility targets investment in priority areas to reduce power losses and increase the reliability of the power distribution system. ADB Pakistan Director Rune Stroem and Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Division Secretary Sibtain Fazal Halim signed the agreement, while ADB’s Central West Regional Department Deputy Director General Werner Liepach was also present on the occasion.
“Energy conservation and energy efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way of increasing electricity supply. This project will not only reduce electricity lost during delivery to the consumers but also improve the service quality by helping getting rid of technical bottlenecks”, Rune Stroem said, adding, “The project makes physical investments in secondary transmission grid and will add 3,380 megavolt-amperes in transformer capacity and 387 kilometres of new distribution lines in power supply structure.”
