Most Improved Country: Activity

Between 2016 and 2019, private infrastructure investment in Pakistan increased by approximately USD 5.7 billion, totalling almost USD 22 billion since 2010.^[1] Several energy projects during this period have contributed to Pakistan’s strong performance:

Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Line Project

In February 2019, the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) of Pakistan reached financial close on the USD 1.66 billion Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Line project.

The high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line is Pakistan’s first transmission build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) project. The project includes the development of 878 kilometres of transmission line, with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts, from Matiari in south Pakistan to Lahore in the north east. The transmission line is expected to alleviate a significant power shortage in the country’s key economic hubs, the Islamabad Capital Territory and the Punjab Province (which includes Lahore).

The project has been financed by the China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co Ltd (CET), which is a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China.

Hub Coal Power Plant

In January 2017, the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) of Pakistan signed the power purchase agreement on the USD 2 billion coal-fired thermal power plant.

The project is an operations and maintenance project, consisting of two 660 megawatts power plants.^[2] Located in Hub, Balochistan, approximately 45 kilometres from Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, the project is expected to support the energy needs of approximately four million people, as well as alleviate the power shortages in Karachi.

The project is a joint venture between Hub Power Company (HUBCO), which has a 74% stake, and China Power International Holding (CPIH), which has a 26% stake.

Both projects are part of the Belt and Road Initiative and considered priority projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).^[3] These projects will contribute to energy security for Pakistan, and ultimately improve economic and social progress as energy certainty allows businesses to operate more effectively and households to meet energy needs.