The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $250m loan to expand and improve the power transmission network in Pakistan’s Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

ADB’s power transmission strengthening project will help stabilise the national grid by increasing its transmission capacity.

The high-voltage transmission network will be expanded to close 500kV and 220kV transmission line loops. Transmission losses in the city of Lahore, Punjab, will also be reduced by replacing old transmission lines.

The aim of the project is to reduce the gap between demand and supply and achieve environmental stability and climate resilience in the power sector by increasing indigenous sources to more than 50%.

This project will also complement ADB’s support of the state-owned National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) to deliver clean and cost-effective energy.

ADB Central and West Asia director-general Yevgeniy Zhukov stated: “Reliable power supply is essential to inclusive, sustainable economic growth, and it will also provide economic opportunities to rural communities.