K-P CM Mahmood Khan. PHOTO: PTI
He issued these directives while chairing a meeting of the energy and power department on Tuesday.
During the meeting, CM Mahmood disclosed that the provincial government has thus far completed work on seven different energy-related projects with a total production capacity of 161.2MW. These projects, he said, are expected to generate Rs4.404 billion in revenues per year.
The meeting was told that by the end of 2022, five additional energy projects will be completed with a combined capacity of 216MW and will generate Rs1.137 billion in revenues annually.
The chief minister stated that of the 332 mini-hydel power projects, 280 have been completed and are supplying power to 90,000 local households. Further, he said that they were working on setting up an additional 672 mini-hydel power projects across the province to generate 55 MWs of electricity which will directly benefit 200,000 households.
The meeting was briefed in detail about the K-P Energy and Power department’s performance over the past year, including an update on projects currently under construction, those which have been completed and federal government-related issues in the implementation of new projects.
Detailed deliberations were also held on exempting the PEDO from income tax, finalising a wheeling regime for industrial consumers, inclusion of provincial energy-related projects in the national generation plan, inclusion of energy projects in the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), representation of provincial members in Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), AEDB, CCPA-G and NTDC and provision of gas to Kohat Division.
The meeting agreed on the need to resolve these issues on a priority basis and decided to convene a high-level meeting, with representation from the federal government, to sort out bottlenecks in the speedy implementation of these programmes.
The meeting was told that the provincial government intends to establish 17 hydel power projects with generating a capacity of 3,000MW in the districts of Chitral, Swat, and Dir.
Furthermore, the provincial government, with the cooperation of donor organisations, has planned four new projects, including the Balakot hydropower project, Barikot, Patrik Sheringil, and Gabral Kalam hydro projects which will be completed by 2025 at an estimated cost of $1.233 billion.
The meeting was informed that work on all these projects will commence during the ongoing fiscal year and is expected to generate Rs17.86 billion per year, once completed.
The meeting was also briefed about the five energy-related projects which have been included in CPEC. These projects have a combined generating capacity of 961 MW. Moreover, work on six additional projects under CPEC, with a capacity of 1,243 MW, is under progress.
With regards to the newly merged tribal district (NMTDs), officials said work on a 10.5 MW project in Chapri Charkhel area of the Khyber Tribal District will be initiated next and it will take four years to complete it at an estimated cost of Rs4.5 billion.
Further, a feasibility study for hydropower projects in NMTDs is being carried out and will cost Rs150 million.
The meeting was further told that during the campaign against electricity theft in the province, some 2,056 FIRs have been lodged, 560 people have been arrested and Rs1.29 billion in arrears recovered.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2019.
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