In a bid to connect new power plants to the national grid and upgrade as well as expand the existing transmission infrastructure till 2021, the NTDC will have to complete around 58 projects worth Rs736 billion. PHOTO: FILE
According to him, most of the company’s workforce of 12,000 is in the habit of performing official duties just like any other government corporation and the introduction of international corporate practices is a hard nut to crack.
“The post of managing director was highly centralised previously, which didn’t make sense to me. Recently, with the support of board of directors, we have restructured the entire organisation and created posts of deputy managing directors,” NTDC Managing Director Dr Fiaz Ahmad Chaudhry said in an interview with The Express Tribune.
“We are choosing good leaders from within the organisation and are also hiring a few competent professionals from abroad to perform the upcoming tasks, which are huge.”
With the creation of new posts, he believed, the flow of information and inter-department connectivity would improve in coming days.
The government has given a huge task to the NTDC, requiring it to connect 9,000 to 10,000 megawatts of electric power to the national grid by 2018 as the country is struggling to steer out of the power crisis.
In a bid to connect new power plants to the national grid and upgrade as well as expand the existing transmission infrastructure till 2021, the NTDC will have to complete around 58 projects worth Rs736 billion.
It has to lay 500-kilovolt transmission lines over 4,000 km and 220kv lines over 2,000 km by the year 2021.
In 2015-16, the company’s 500kv transmission lines were spread over 5,187 km and 220kv lines covered 9,126 km. It has to enhance 500kv and 220kv transmission capacity to 33,324 megavolt-amperes and 47,179MVA respectively by 2021 compared to 19,824MVA and 25,333MVA in FY16.
According to Chaudhry, NTDC has so far managed to keep work progress at a decent pace. “NTDC has been successful in providing interconnection transmission facilities, consisting of 500kv, 220kv and 132kv transmission lines, for 6,164MW of generation capacity of different power plants, which has come on stream in the current financial year,” he said.
He, however, pointed out that the company faced a serious lack of adequate trained manpower and modern project management approaches in working with consultants and contractors.
“We hired a fresh breed of engineers recently and are trying to bring some world-class professionals to make a perfect blend of youth and experience to perform the massive task,” he said.
The company cannot afford old systems and methodologies and has to step up the pace of work manifold to achieve its targets including dealing with many foreign funding agencies like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
Talking about delays that often led to extension in project timelines, Chaudhry referred to hectic procurement processes.
“If funds come from local sources, then we have to follow PPRA (Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) rules and regulations, which may be good in normal circumstances, but should be modified in the current scenario to avoid delays,” he said.
“The demand for procurement is so high that a contractor or company finds it tough to supply goods within the time frame; if any equipment doesn’t meet our standards, then it causes further delay.”
Pakistan has installed power generation capacity of 22,616MW and it will almost double to 44,805MW by 2021 with the implementation of many new projects. Scores of contractors and companies are working on the power projects, but to transmit electricity there is only one company - NTDC.
“It is a hard task to execute the assigned projects with the same manpower, but we are on it. We are bringing new management, though we have a huge count of old people, we are fixing things by putting the right person at the right place,” said Chaudhry.
He, however, hinted that there might be some delay in the upcoming power transmission projects, but the company would strive to complete the maximum within the set schedule.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2017.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ