LAHORE: The federal and Punjab governments are confident that the three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-run power plants they plan to construct in the province will start partial generation before summer of 2017, as the officials entrusted with the task have been told to work on a war footing to get the target in time.

The federal government plans to construct two gas-fired power plants (each having 1000MW to 1,200MW capacity) in the districts of Kasur and Jhang, while the provincial (Punjab) tier is set to establish a similar project at Bhiki, a small town located on Sheikhupura-Faisalabad road (in Sheikhupura district).

Official sources say that though the time-frame for completion of these projects is 30 to 36 months (November 2017 to April 2018), those associated with the work have been asked to ensure partial power production before summer of 2017 by all means.

“Keeping in view the situation, the bidding documents for awarding various contracts related to the construction of Bhiki power plant have been completed and tenders are likely to be floated within couple of days,” a senior official seeking anonymity told Dawn on Sunday.

The official said the Punjab government had also established a company -- Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power Private Limited -- that would supervise the Bhiki plant. The federal government would supervise work on its two power plants through another private company established separately.

He said the energy department had also sought hiring of professionals initially against 14 jobs, including the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO) and company secretary, to run the new company entrusted with the task. He said the recruitment of professionals was likely to be completed within this month.

He said per unit price of electricity to be generated by the LNG-run plant was yet to be decided. “But one thing is very clear that per unit price will be less than the prevailing power tariff,” he added.

When asked about distribution mechanism of power to be generated by these plants , the official dispelled the impression that it would be supplied to Punjab only. He said the entire power generation by these projects would first be added to national grid and then the quarters concerned would decide about its distribution keeping in view the load management situation in various provinces.

He said the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) was also working out mechanism for transportation of LNG to these plants and was considering options whether it should be done through a separate pipeline or the existing one.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2015

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