KARACHI, March 3: With the launch of various new power projects both in the public and private sectors, the national grid will have an additional electricity of 6,000 megawatts by 2010-11.
This was stated by the managing director of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), Munawwar Baseer Ahmed, while speaking at a seminar here on Monday.
Mr Ahmed said that the financial close of around 15 new projects with a generating capacity of 2,868 megawatts had already been achieved.
“In addition, a new 500 megawatts power project will be completed by the end of this year, while another 300 megawatts project was being rehabilitated by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda)”, he added.
The Pepco official said that besides a 700 megawatts power unit, an open-cycle power project of 300 megawatts was also coming up on a fast-track basis in the private sector.
He also mentioned that the government had approved the setting up of power projects with a generation capacity of 2,000 megawatts in the public sector to overcome the ongoing power crisis in the country.
Mr Ahmed said that the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) would have to arrange its own power generation to meet the growing demand for power in Karachi. He clarified that Wapda and the KESC had signed no agreement for the purchase of power.
He said that the KESC was unable to pay outstanding dues which ran into billions. “If we (Pepco) do not get the payment against the supplied electricity, how can the KESC expect to get power from us”, he said.
Mr Ahmed went on to say that the KESC had to recover Rs15 billion from various government departments while the Pepco arrears were much higher. He was of the opinion that Pakistan must increase the share of coal-based power projects in the energy mix. The chief executive officer of the KESC, retired Lt-General Mohammad Amjad, said that the demand for electricity was increasing at a rate of 8 per cent annually in the city.
He said that in the early 90s, the KESC used to export electricity to Wapda which now catered to about 27 per cent of the KESC’s total requirements.
The KESC official said that a project of 220 megawatts was in the final stages at Port Qasim, while work on two power projects would start by the end of this month and two more in July. “These projects will be completed in July 2009”, he informed the audience.—APP
