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ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The federal government on Tuesday approved 16 independent power projects (IPPs) of a total capacity of 3,700-mw with an estimated investment of about $4 billion.
The decision to this effect was taken at the board meeting of Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) presided over by minister for Water and Power Liaqat Ali Jatoi.
HYDEL PROJECTS: Emphasizing the importance of hydel power generation in the country, the board approved award of seven raw hydel sites for preparation of feasibility studies and issuance of letter of intent (LOI) for their implementation.
The government had earlier invited proposals from the private sector through road-shows in London and Dubai a few months ago. About 30 parties had submitted their proposals, of which seven have been selected on the basis of prequalification and ranking criteria. These projects have a total power generation capacity of 1.804-mw and total estimated investment of $2.2 billion.
Under the PPIB decision, a 53-mw Harighel Hydropower Project in Bagh, Azad Kashmir has been awarded to Descon Engineering, 115-mw Sharmai Hydropower in Dir district of NWFP to Global Resources of the US, 130-mw Patrind Hydropower Project in Mansehra district of NWFP to Emirates Trading Agency (Al-Ghurair, UAE), 148-mw Madian Hydropower in Sawat district of NWFP to Cherat Cement and Shirazi Group.
Similarly, 245-mw Mahl Hydropower Project in Bagh district of AJK has been given to China International Water and Power Corporation of China, 458-mw Karrang Hydropower in Kohistan district of NWFP to Micro Middle East of the UAE and 655-mw Suki Kinari Hydropower Project in Mansehra district of NWFP to SK Hydro (Faysal Bank & Dongfong China).
PROJECT FOR KARACHI: In order to overcome the power shortages in Karachi, the Board invited the sponsors of 150-mw Western Electric Power Project, which had problem over tariff with the KESC.
The PPIB offered them a final tariff of five cents per unit to settle the issue. The sponsors and the KESC were asked to agree to the offer by Wednesday evening, otherwise the government would hold international competitive bidding for the project.
The project sponsors, led by Tapal Group was demanding about 5.25 cents per unit for the project while the KESC was not ready to accept a tariff beyond 4.9 cents per unit. The project is likely to go ahead on fast track basis once the sponsors give acceptance of the offered tariff.
GAS-BASED PROJECT IN SINDH: The PPIB board also approved a 200-mw Green Power Project in Sindh with an investment of $150 million. The sources said during a recent visit to Germany, the Prime Minister had invited Siemens to invest in power sector but the company had reservations owing to its bad experience in the development of Rousch project a few years back.
However, the company was assured that it would be provided about 40-mmcfd of low-btu gas for the 200-mw project on a full year basis from BHP’s Zamzama gas field. The Siemens would be in joint venture with Secodnin of Singapore and a local group would now install the project, subject to successful tariff finalization under the aegis of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).
The board also approved 200-mw dual-fired power project by Brazilian Energy with an investment of $150 million. The company was invited by President General Pervez Musharraf during his visit to Brazil.
The company had originally proposed to set up a diesel-based project but asked to go for dual-fired project because of the expected high cost of diesel.
The PPIB board also approved in principal a 225-mw power project at Sundar Industrial Estate in Punjab with an investment of $170 million.
The board also approved issuance of LoI for 225-mw power project at Bhikki by Halmore Power Generation of UK with an investment $170 million.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the decisions taken by the PPIB would go a long way in overcoming the power shortage in the country.
He stressed the need to move faster for expeditious implementation of power projects to overcome the imminent power shortages in the near future and to achieve objective of electricity supply to all by 2007.
