CASA-1000

As part of the CASA-1000 power link Hitachi Energy was 2018 selected as supplier of two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations in Tajikistan and Pakistan. These converter stations will enable the efficient transmission of renewable hydropower over 800 kilometers from generation sites in Tajikistan to consumption areas in Pakistan.

The CASA-1000 project is an important part of an international initiative to facilitate electricity trade between Central and South Asian countries, named the Central Asia-South Asia Regional Electricity Market initiative, partly financed by the World Bank. The CASA-1000 project supports a Pakistan government strategy to manage an increasing demand for electricity, and will also allow Tajikistan to better utilize its hydropower generation. 

Tajikistan ranks eighth in the world for hydropower potential and over 90 percent of the country’s electricity needs are met with hydropower generation. But during warm summer months, it often has an excess supply, which cannot be utilized locally. Pakistan however, has an increasing demand for electricity to support a growing economy. This new, mutually beneficial transmission infrastructure will help create an economic and political bond between these neighboring countries.

Hitachi Energy won the project together with its consortium partner Cobra AS responsible for construction, installation and substations. The CASA-1000 converter stations will have the capacity to transmit 1,300 megawatts of electricity, at 500 kilovolts. This high-voltage direct current transmission will enable the electricity to be transmitted over  800 kilometers of overhead power lines with minimized losses, meaning more power gets to the end consumer when compared to other transmission solutions. The overhead lines in CASA-1000 have also been designed with extra capacity to almost double the power transmitted, creating enough allowance for a second HVDC system to be built in the future.