KARACHI, July 7: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan has asked the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation to carry out its short- and long-term plans, particularly those that deal with power generation, at the earliest.
“The problems in the next summer must be fewer than the ones faced this summer,” he said while addressing a meeting at the Governor’s House on Saturday, reports APP.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Shakeel Durrani, Principal Secretary Saleem Khan and John Kim, the CEO of a South Korean Engineering Company.
Evaluation on the cards
The government is likely to engage some technical experts to evaluate the causes of power generation and distribution problems and their handling by the Siemens-led operations and management contractors of the KESC, it was reliably learnt, adds Shamim-ur-Rahman.
The proposal was discussed in some high-level meetings which reviewed the rapidly deteriorating power situation in Karachi, sources said, adding that the auditors would not only probe into the overall losses but would also go into the causes of repeated breakdowns of the Bin Qasim Power Plant units despite extensive repairs. They would also examine general complaints of low voltage and the reported decision of the KESC’s new corporate management to operate some of the system below normal frequency.
In a recent meeting with the governor and KESC officials, the elected representatives of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had demanded that the Federal Investment Projects funds, their delays and misappropriations should be investigated properly and responsibilities be fixed accordingly. It was also suggested that the accounts of the power utility should also be audited.
In view of the snowball effect and negative political fallout of the recurring power outages, pressure was mounting on the new KESC management to seek firm commitment from the Water and Power Development Authority to provide additional power of 700 to 850 megawatts at least for the next three years.
Power extension projects
It has been emphasised that the KESC should ensure completion of both Korangi Thermal Power Station and Bin Qasim Power Station extension projects in the minimum possible time to bridge the gap between supply and demand at the earliest.
Keeping in view the 10 per cent growth rate of power consumption on a yearly basis, the KESC corporate management should also encourage more Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and install barge-mounted power plants as even the additional power generated after the completion of KTPS and BQPS extension projects will not be sufficient for the future requirements.
MQM legislators insisted that in order to keep the tariff in the range of common people, the federal government should bear the difference of cost of energy produced by the IPPs.
Redefinition of roles
Besides, there is strong pressure for putting limitations on the Operation and Management contract with Siemens, and senior, experienced engineers and officers along with the skilled workers of the utility should be “taken into confidence to run the KESC affairs under the corporate management”. It has been proposed that the Siemens role should be redefined and it should only be allowed to complete various underway projects of transmission system.
To keep the proper monitoring and vigilance of the entire system, the organisational restructuring of the KESC was considered essential. The need for removing disparity between wages of the different tiers of the workforce and managers was also felt necessary.
Siemens were given the responsibility to operate and manage the corporation and deal day to day affairs. They were bound to improve and upgrade EHT/HT network and convert it into a profitable organisation during the first two years. However, two-third time has lapsed but no improvement was visible. On the contrary, the system has further deteriorated, which created law and order situation. The provincial government sources have come to the conclusion that policies adopted by Siemens had failed.
In a recent meeting, it was pointed out that since the KESC’s privatisation the financial health of Siemens had been improved unlike the KESC. At the time of takeover, the price of KESC share was around Rs10.5 and that of the Siemens was Rs550 approximately. Now, the Siemens share value is more than its double whereas the KESC share price is dropped to Rs6.5 approximately.
The government is examining various proposals for commissioning barge-mounted power plant to get out of the trouble, which according to experts is likely to persist till October. Several proposals, including that of a South African company, were discussed in high-level meetings here and in Islamabad. The meetings rejected a proposal for outsourcing the KESC complaint centres.
In February 2006, PEL had given a fast track solution to the KESC by offering a barge-mounted 100MW power project with estimated completion time of four months. A comprehensive presentation was given to the then KESC CEO, Frank Scherschmidt, on Feb 20, 2006. Satisfied with the proposal, the CEO was so delighted that he called them ‘angels’. However, the relevant person of PEL when met him, he was told that the proposal was unacceptable to the Siemens-led contractors.
