Ministry wants to run RPPs that were earlier shut down due to corruption

It is in a hurry to bridge demand-supply gap as power outages increase

ISLAMABAD: Being upset over prolonged electricity outages, the Ministry of Water and Power is pressing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to give his nod for running the Rental Power Plants (RPPs) that were shut down in the wake of corruption cases during previous government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The move to follow the PPP government’s model to enhance electricity production has been prompted by the current PML-N administration’s disappointment over increase in load-shedding with the onset of summer and scathing criticism from opposition political parties and the general public.



However, the proposal to resume operations of the controversial RPPs is in stark contrast to a petition filed by the current Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif in the Supreme Court, when he was sitting in the opposition, against the PPP, which was planning to set up RPPs to cope with the growing blackouts.

Later, the court ordered that the power plants should be shut down due to involvement of corruption and kickbacks.

In a high-level meeting held in April, Water and Power Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar recalled that 90-megawatt Reshma Power and 72MW Gulf Power were planned to be set up under the RPP policy. However, after the Supreme Court’s decision, all such plants were shut down.

Reshma Power failed to reach its commercial operation date whereas Gulf Power had started production and was delivering electricity to the national grid at the time of court’s ruling.

After the judgment, all arrangements for the RPPs came to an end. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) also started investigation into the irregularities committed under the RPP policy.

In response to the water and power ministry’s request, the prime minister insisted that all issues pertaining to the idle power plants should be resolved first in order to utilise the available capacities for reducing the power shortfall.

He directed the ministry to submit a viable plan to make the idle plants operational immediately, particularly Reshma Power and Gulf Power.

Mobile plants rejected

The water and power secretary also spoke about the possibility of introducing mobile power generation units in the short term to bridge the power deficit. He emphasised that trailer-mounted power generators would provide a quick solution by producing 100-500MW over short term. “This system has been in vogue in different countries,” he said.

He revealed that two well-known manufacturers of trailer-mounted mobile power generators - General Electric (GE) and Pratt and Whitney (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group) - had been approached for installing and running the power units at their own cost and risk.

GE told the ministry that 16 units of 30.7MW each were available with the company, which could be installed near a gas field or pipeline by directly connecting to 11-kilovolt feeders. However, Pratt & Whitney did not respond.



The secretary pointed out that the possibility of trailer-mounted power production had been earlier examined in September 2016, but it was found to be unworkable.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif insisted that the mobile plants would become useless if they were not made functional by July 2017. Therefore, the idea of introducing these plants was rejected.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2017.

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