Techno-Economic Analysis of HVDC Transmission Line Project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Pakistan has been suffering from energy crisis for a long time. Various energy projects are being undertaken to enhance power generation capacity. There are two possible methods of power evacuation from generating stations; one is conventional High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) system, and the other is emerging High Voltage Direct Current system. There is currently no existing HVDC transmission system in Pakistan, however, Government of Pakistan has signed projects related to this emerging technology with the advent of (CPEC) China- Pakistan Economic Corridor in the country. This study, therefore, is an effort to assess the techno-economic aspect of such a system which may carry the power of 4,000 MW capacity power plants located 878 km away from load centers in Pakistan. Technically, HVDC can transfer more power per conductor/circuit efficiently and reliably as there are no issues like skin effect, compensation, low short circuit current and corona losses associated with the HVDC system. Power per conductor in the DC system is 1.414 times more than in the AC system, so there will be more power transfer per circuit and on whole DC transmission system. In this study Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) technique is applied which shows that CPEC proposed HVDC transmission project net present value is 2360.04 million US dollars while for HVAC transmission line it will be 2779.56 million US dollars. There is a huge difference between their net present values, which is 419.52 million US dollars. It is, therefore concluded that HVDC transmission system is technically and economically viable for the evacuation of bulk power as compared to the conventional HVAC system.