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| June 22, 2003 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 21,1424 |
Clarification
ISLAMABAD, June 21: Uch Power Limited in a detailed clarification issued here on Saturday of a news item (Government Faces Penalty in Power Row with IPP) published in Dawn on June 4, 2003, has made the following points:
“Uch Power Limited has not declared any force majeure vis- a-vis OGDCL. Rather, two force majeure notices have been issued by OGDCL on UPL both of which were rejected by Uch Power Limited, Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) of the Government of Pakistan and Wapda. Out of abundant caution and to protect our rights we have claimed corresponding protection under the force majeure provisions in our Power Purchase Agreement with Wapda, should OGDCL pursue its claims and succeed in establishing force majeure under its contact with Uch Power.
“The Low BTU gas provided to Uch Power Plant requires moisture content removal owing to the process necessary to reduce the high sulphur content (H2S) in the gas. The Amine solution, which reduces the H2S, is a water-based chemical solution, and in order for OGDCL to comply with the GSA contract with UPL (Gas Supply Agreement), it is necessary for the OGDCL to remove the water from gas that gets included as part to the process.
“OGDCL was required to install a purification plant to remove the high sulphur content (H2S). Due to the water based H2S removal process, OGDCL had to install the moisture removal equipment (called “gas dehydration equipment”) to comply with the GSA. Wapda is not required to install two minor generators on the purification plant.
“Most importantly, Uch Power Limited has NOT issued any notice of termination to the Government of Pakistan, Wapda and OGDCL in respect of any agreement it has with those parties.
“A minor correction: Uch Power Plant has a nameplate capacity of 586MW (not 584 MW as stated in the report).
“The report also wrongly alleges that Uch Power Limited has recently developed serious technical problems. In fact, Uch Power Limited has been operating on maximum capacity and meeting Wapda despatch requests since Jan 2003 with OGDCL providing the required quantity of gas.
“Dawn regrets the totally unintentional mix-up of information in the story.”
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