Two other plants, Lal Pir and PakGen, have also been closed.
Units operating on furnace oil at have been shut down. Other two plants, each with a capacity of 350 megawatts, are currently out of commission. Kapco has an installed capacity of 1,600 megawatts.
Similarly, Muzzafargarh power plant, operated by Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) with an installed capacity of 900 megawatts, is currently supplying only 450 megawatts. The closure of Kapco and other plants has exacerbated the electricity crisis in Punjab.
Company sources revealed that people from the residential colony at Kapco’s power plant had already been evacuated and on Friday only about 50 essential employees including plant engineers were present at the facility. However, water levels in the vicinity continued to rise and on Friday evening “two and a half feet of water” was reported inside the Kapco premises by an employee stationed there.
Meanwhile, Managing Director Pakistan State Oil Irfan Qureshi told The Express Tribune that supply of oil from Karachi to the northern areas through a pipeline was halted on Friday evening, after the pipeline became submerged at Lal Pir.
Qureshi said that a convoy had already been dispatched to replenish fuel supplies in Gilgit and adjoining areas and that the convoy would arrive in Gilgit by Saturday morning. He also assured that adequate supplies of high-speed diesel, furnace oil and jet fuel were being maintained in all major cities.
“However, supplies to smaller towns hit by floods will remain affected in coming days,” conceded Qureshi.
Eyewitnesses said that water levels that had reached a high of nine feet in Kot Addu city have subsided to about six feet and that the initial surge of flooding has eased in the area.
They also revealed that the army and volunteers have managed to break two points of the canal on the western side of the plant and city to divert water away from Kot Addu.
Experts say that it is possible to restart Kapco and full capacity generation can be achieved within three to five days. However, they warned that if Pak-Arab Refinery Limited is shut down, restoring the refinery to full output level may require up to 45 days.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2010.
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