Chinese firm wins $11.7m SEPCO contract

Chinese firm Jiangsu Ankura Intelligent Electric Co Ltd has secured an $11.728 million contract under a $40 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) power project to upgrade four 66kV grid stations of the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) to 132kV, a move aimed at strengthening the power transmission network in Sindh. The contract, signed on February 4, 2026, covers the conversion of grid stations at Radhan, Thari Mir Wah, Nara-II and Padidan under package SEPCO-EPC-001. The contract value comprises $6.612 million and Rs1,432.444 million, according to project documents. The upgrade forms part of a broader Sepco investment programme financed through ADB Loan No 4567-PAK, carrying a total loan amount of $40 million. Implementation of the project is already under way, with the advance payment for the foreign-currency component disbursed. Letter of credit processing, design submissions and soil investigations are currently in progress. The ADB-funded programme includes several other components aimed at modernising Sepco's electricity distribution system, including procurement of 1,200 Advanced Power Management System (APMS) units, an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project covering 50,000 units, and the bifurcation of 40 11kV feeders. The programme also provides for project implementation consultancy services for the grid-station component, along with separate consultancy services covering the AMI, APMS and 11kV feeder bifurcation projects. The conversion of the four stations from 66kV to 132kV is expected to strengthen the capacity and reliability of Sepco's power network as the utility moves ahead with a wider programme of grid and distribution-system modernisation.