Grid-Integrated Battery Energy Storage System for Stability and Resilience Project (ADB-60126-001)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Pakistan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
Government of Pakistan
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 250.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 250.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Jun 27, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Apr 7, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the ADB, the project will finance the design, supply, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of utility-scale BESS facilities. Integration of BESS into the transmission SCADA Phase III system, currently under implementation under the ADB-funded Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Program (MFF II), will enable optimized dispatch and provision of ancillary services.

Preliminary findings of the ongoing feasibility study indicate that installing two BESS along the North-South transmission corridor would be the most effective approach to address key grid bottlenecks and increase the transmission capacity of renewable energy along the corridor. Each installation is expected to have an approximate power rating of 500 megawatts (MW) and an energy storage capacity of about 1,000 megawatt-hours (MWh), corresponding to a 2-hour storage duration, resulting in a total capacity of approximately 1,000 MW / 2,000 MWh. At this scale, the proposed BESS would represent one of the largest grid-scale battery storage deployments supported by ADB to date and the first transmission-level storage system of this scale in the Central and West Asia region.

The project will also strengthen the institutional and operational capacity of NGC for storage operation, asset management, cybersecurity, and performance monitoring. The project will also support operational protocols for storage dispatch, ancillary services provision, and coordination with the planned Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) framework. Through this investment, battery storage will become an integral component of Pakistan's transmission system and energy market, enhancing grid flexibility, reliability, and resilience.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

The executing agency will be the National Grid Company of Pakistan Limited. As stated by Devex, National Grid Company of Pakistan Limited, formerly known as National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC), was incorporated on 6th November, 1998 and commenced commercial operation on 24th December, 1998. It was organized to take over all the propertise, rights and assets obligations and liabilities of 220 KV and 500KV Grid Stations and Transmission Lines/Network owned by Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). NTDC operates and maintains fourteen 500 KV and thirty eight 220 KV Grid Stations, 5110.48 km of 500 KV transmission line and 9686.32 km of 220 KV transmission line in Pakistan.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - National Grid Company of Pakistan Limited Contractor Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ADB Team Leader:

Takhmina Mukhamedova
Email: tmukhamedova@adb.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.

How it works

How it works