ISLAMABAD, July 6: A meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday allowed the Water and Power Development Authority to set up thermal plants to produce about 700-800 megawatts in Punjab, sources told Dawn.
Last year, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the water and power ministry had stopped Wapda from setting up three thermal stations on the ground that the public sector could not instal them under a covenant with the World Bank.
The prime minister told reporters on Thursday that loadshedding would start easing after July.
He said a lot of investment was taking place in the sector and a number of power plants were coming up on a fast-track basis in the private sector.
He said Wapda was increasing its capacity through refurbishment of its plants and adding one or two thermal power stations.
During the meeting, the prime minister directed Wapda to use all possible options to increase power generation, including setting up new projects and improving its system to meet the growing energy requirements.
It directed the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) to pursue projects on a fast-track basis and asked Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Amanullah Jadoon to make available maximum gas for thermal power projects on a priority basis.
The PPIB managing director said the country would have an additional capacity of 2,000MW generated by independent power producers (IPPs) by the end of 2008.
The sources said the prime minister was not happy with the working of the PPIB and delay in projects.
They said President Pervez Musharraf had also said recently that “nothing has been done practically to meet future power requirements”.
The ministry of water and power has been asked to prepare a comprehensive plan to meet future electricity needs, says a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s House.
The prime minister directed the Wapda chairman to interact with the Alternative Energy Development Board to look into the possibilities of setting up micro hydroelectric projects.
He said ensuring security of water, energy and food was among the top priorities of the government.
The prime minister said that over the years the middle class had expanded, electrification of rural areas had increased and irrigation and industrial energy demand was at an all-time high, necessitating more electricity generation.
He said the government was taking all necessary steps to meet the growing energy demand by creating adequate power generation capacity.
