KARACHI, Sept 10: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has expressed concern over the pace of progress on the Hubco-KESC link.

A press release issued by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation says that Nepra held a session at the power utility’s headquarters on Wednesday.

“Nepra emphasized that the Hubco-KESC link was important in view of the increasing city power demand. It also suggested that the power utility should press the issue at all relevant quarters for the quick implementation of the project,” it says.

The KESC press release quotes Nepra members as suggesting that the federal government, in consultation with all the stakeholders including the KESC, should work on the possibilities of putting up more power generating stations at Karachi.

The press release says that Nepra was appreciative of the KESC for not applying for a further power tariff increase. “Nepra said the present managers of the KESC are on the right track and in due course of time the city electricity consumers will see tangible results of efforts being made to make the power utility efficient,” it says.

Nepra chairman Abdul Rahim Khan, member tariff Fazalullah Qureshi, member licensing Sardar M. Sharif Khan and KESC managing director Brig Tariq Saddozai attended the session.

WORLD BANK: A high-level World Bank mission, headed by Marc L. Heitner, held a meeting with KESC managing director Brig Tariq Saddozai on Wednesday to investigate the issues and options related to the feasibility of fuel substitution in the power sector.

The KESC press release says the mission is deliberating matters related to the substitution of liquid fuel with natural gas.

The KESC managing director told the mission that the power utility had the capability of using 336MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) while the quota allocation for the KESC was 236MMCFD. He added that power generating units had already been made capable of using natural gas in place of costly furnace oil.