China and Pakistan may sign power export ultra high voltage technology involved

Release time： 2021-12-31 18:13

【Summary description】 The reported power export plan between China and Pakistan will face difficulties, but it is still technically possible and will benefit both countries if realized, experts said recently.

The reported power export plan between China and Pakistan will face difficulties, but it is still technically possible and will benefit both countries if realized, experts said recently.

Within days, China and Pakistan are expected to sign a memorandum of cooperation on the export of 4,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Dawn quoted unnamed officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Water and Power as saying that an official Pakistani delegation had gone to Beijing to discuss a draft memorandum of cooperation with the State Grid Corporation of China on the matter. State Grid's public relations department declined to comment on the report when contacted by the Global Daily.

Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said the cooperation between the two countries will cover ultra-high-voltage power transmission technology. "China faces a relative energy glut, so it wants to be able to export electricity. And the electricity prices in Pakistan and India are very good." Lin Boqiang said. As new energy sources converge in China, such as nuclear power plants, the relative oversupply is getting worse, Lin said. LAN Jianxue, an assistant researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said that in recent years, Pakistan's rapidly developing textile industry, processing trade and other emerging industries, as well as a swelling middle class above the large population, have led to increasing demand for electricity. "Pakistan's infrastructure is lacking and lagging behind such growth needs. And the growth of neighboring countries will also bring economic benefits to China." LAN Jianxue told Global Daily.

"China has rich experience in building power grid facilities in high-altitude plateau areas." Lin said, citing existing power grids in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous Region and Tibet autonomous region. However, Pakistan is far away from China, so the choice of route is key. "If Pakistan wants to build such a project, I think it is doable despite the difficulties." Lin Boqiang said. The draft has been revised by a team comprising Pakistan's National Transmission and Distribution Corporation and the private Electricity and Infrastructure Commission, Dawn reported. The two sides will discuss changes in the details of the draft when they attend the fourth round of the Pakistan-China Joint Cooperation Committee.

Khwaja Asif, Pakistan's minister for water and power, hinted that the power transmission project would be completed by 2018. To address the power shortage, the Pakistani government announced the addition of 10,400 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by 2017. This will be achieved through a series of projects, including the construction of three coal-fired power stations to generate 3,300 megawatts of electricity and China's 4,000MW of electricity exports.