FAISALABAD, Oct 30: The Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) has set up an energy conservation cell to curb power wastage, and cell officials are giving free advice to industrialists about energy saving, says Fesco Chief Executive Ahmad Saeed Akhtar.

Speaking at a workshop on ‘Responsible business through energy conservation in textile processing industry’, organised by the All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA) and Clean Production Institution (CPI) here on Thursday, Mr Akhtar said education was a must to bridge the gap between power demand and supply and curb its wastage.

Pakistan could not afford wastage of energy in the prevailing circumstances and industrial sector had to come up with measures to deal with the situation and reduce the cost of doing business in Pakistan.

The Fesco official said a wide gap between power demand and supply necessitated education at all levels to save energy.

The energy audit conducted by the cell detected loss of energy up to 15-20 per cent. The main cause of this wastage was unskilled electrical staff, poor wiring, old electrical motors and their substandard winding, he said.

He said energy audit was more important for the units exporting their products because it would help them compete with their international rivals.

CPI’s National Steering Committee Chairman Shabbir Ahmad underlined the importance of energy for industrial development and said Pakistan was facing acute shortage of energy, which was also affecting its industrial production.