In a bid to relieve the people of Gwadar from long-hour power loadshedding, Queata Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) has started purchasing new 80 power transformers for Gwadar, home of more than 400,000 people. Talking to Gwadar Pro, a QESCO official said that around 20 power transformers will be kept in standby position. Meanwhile, he said that QESCO is also introducing new electricity infrastructure through which faulty power cables and fragile electricity poles are being replaced with newly purchased power paraphernalia.

QESCO, operating as a power distribution company and dealing with the power supply system along with National Transmission National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) will collaborate to complete the project. All 80 transformers will contribute to energy conservation by improving transmission efficiency and reducing power wastage.

Additionally, they are integral in renewable energy systems, facilitating the integration of solar into the grid. They are the most economical methods of increasing or decreasing the voltage levels in a power system, and their efficiency can be up to 98 percent. “Initially the transmission lines were single circuit with configuration of three conductors for the three phases,” the QESCO official said.

Given the outlook of the new project, he said, transmission lines are a double circuit configuration with six conductors (three phases for each circuit). When greater reliability is required, double circuits will be used. This mode of transmission allows for the transfer of more power over a given distance.

"As a result, transmission is less expensive, requires less land, and is considered ideal from an ecological and aesthetic standpoint," he explained. Zumurd Baloch, a Gwadar City resident, told Gwadar Pro that business in Gwadar had been languishing in the backdrop of sporadic availability of electricity. The new transformers and transmission line will be a breath of fresh air for the Gwadar industry and trade.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China