Govt strives to speed up work on power projects

Outdated energy infrastructure and theft cause loss of billions.

LAHORE: The federal government is working dedicatedly to address energy shortages in the country and will not allow any delay in execution of power projects, says Minister of State for Water and Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali.

“The prime minister wants work (on power projects) to be done within days instead of months,” he said.

Ali expressed these views while talking to the media during a visit to the site of Mangla Dam extension project in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday.

Ali said the National Power Policy 2013 was formulated in consultation with federating units and other stakeholders. The objectives outlined in the policy spell out a road map for making Pakistan self-sufficient in power generation.

Wapda is working on mega, medium and small-sized run-of-the-river projects such as Diamer Bhasha, Dasu, Neelum-Jhelum and Nandipur to generate low-cost and environment-friendly electricity and also store more water for irrigation.



He blamed the sorry state of power sector on policy neglect by the previous government and emphasised the need for undertaking drastic reforms.

Owing to outdated transmission and distribution infrastructure, losses stood at about 25%-30% and coupled with electricity theft, the national exchequer suffered a loss of billions of rupees annually, he said. “If we overcome inefficiency of the system and improve management, around 1,400 megawatts could be saved from wastage.”

As the energy mix was heavily tilted in favour of costly thermal power, Ali said the government was paying more attention to hydropower to generate low-cost electricity. Wapda is already working on a number of hydropower projects, which are at various phases of completion.

Simultaneous work on a host of projects and their completion would bring thousands of megawatts of affordable electricity, he stressed.

“Contrary to the world’s reliance on coal for 40% of power generation, we are producing a major chunk of electricity from thermal plants. This shows why power tariff is so high and gap between demand and supply so wide,” he said.

At Gadani, a power park is being established which will produce 6,600MW from 10 coal-based plants.

According to Ali, Rs52 billion has already been distributed among the displaced in addition to distribution of plots and payment of rent.

Responding to a question about construction of Kalabagh Dam, Ali stressed that reaching national consensus on the project was a prerequisite.

To another question about planned import of electricity from India, he said the government would take decisions in the larger national interest and on the basis of mutual respect and equality.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th,  2013.

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