LAHORE, Dec 10: Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar on Monday pinned hopes on the Thar Coal to correct generation mix and end loadshedding in the country.

Talking to Dawn, he says the only option for Pakistan is coal-based power generation, which can help the country on two counts -- quantitatively and financially. Since Pakistan has huge reservoirs, it can virtually generate unlimited supply from coal, he says.

To begin with, the ministry is targeting 4,200MW, which should start coming online within a matter of months. Once the process starts, it can go up to 50,000MW, which can take care of country’s needs for next many decades.

Along with it, the ministry is also concentrating on bagasse generation, which can also yield around 1,000MW of cheapest electricity. Both these sources will add over 5,000MW of low priced electricity.

Mukhtar says the ministry is also trying to arrange around 1,000MW through small independent power producers (IPPs) by fixing an upfront tariff and let the IPPs compete for that. By doing so, the ministry will ensure lowest possible tariff and bring overall tariff down and improve supplies.

Another 150MW from wind generation is in addition to that. Out of these 150MW, 50MW should come online within a matter of weeks. “Put together, the ministry hopes to generate around 6,000MW and deal with both – availability and affordability – issues that afflict the power sector in the country,” he claims.

Along with generation, the ministry is trying to improve collections and reduce receivables of the sector that have been mounting by the day so far. Once the collection improves, the sector can improve oil supplies to increase generation. All these components are part of the ministry’s all-embracing plan to improve the sector and national economy, Mukhtar says. “I accepted the water ministry as a challenge and I am trying to live up to expectations of the people and my party leadership.”

He says people might have already noticed some improvement in situation and would soon have more. The ministry is also trying to get some additional gas which can bring about immediate economic (as generation cost comes down by two-thirds) and supply relief.