Powering up

There is a sense that the current government is beginning to get its priorities right vis-a-vis the power sector.


Editorial April 22, 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif and the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah unveil the plaque for the 486MW combined cycle power plant at Guddu. PHOTO: PID

The power needs of Pakistan are only ever going to increase and never decrease. At least in theory we have already installed capacity that exceeds our current need — we should have a power surplus, not a deficit. Decades of inefficiency, bad planning and poor decisions have whittled away at the surplus and our aged and failing power infrastructure is long overdue for overhaul and upgrading. The Nawaz government does seem to be making progress on this front, progress which is uneven — the supposedly slain circular debt is back with us — but any progress is better than no progress. The PM on April 21 inaugurated the commissioning of two gas turbines at the Guddu Thermal Power Plant. These will provide another 747 megawatts of electricity to the national grid at a cost of Rs60 billion. This is not exactly a bargain price but the Chinese company that have done the work have brought the project in seven months ahead of schedule, a mighty achievement indeed and one which the PM was quick to point out.

In May, a third unit will also be commissioned at Guddu which will increase its capacity from 1,655 megawatts to 2,402 megawatts at a time when pressure on the grid will be at its peak as a result of the summer heat. The PM offered the traditional plaudits and platitudes, and promised that in future funds for power projects would be released in a transparent manner and spent on projects that ‘are of benefit to the masses’. He offered no date for an end to power outages and it is going to be with us long into the future, but he did share a part of the big picture in terms of governmental aspirations in the power sector. An additional 21,000 megawatts is to be added to the grid by 2022, by which time the Diamer-Bhasha dam should be operational and the upgrading of Tarbela IV and V complete. We face yet another long hot summer with scant relief, but there is a sense that the current government is beginning to get its priorities right vis-a-vis the power sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2014.

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