Get ready for long hours of load-shedding, says Ishaq Dar

Reduced hydel generation will cause six to eight hours of load-shedding across the country.

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar advised the nation on Thursday be prepared for long hours of load-shedding as hydel power generation will dramatically fall because of closure of canals coupled with a cut in gas supplies to the power plants.

“Be ready for load-shedding in coming days and months as hydel generation is going to decrease dramatically,” said Dar while addressing a Conference on Integrated Transit Trade Management System. He said the closure of canals for annual cleaning will result in a decrease in hydro-power generation.

Hydel generation stood at 37% of the total power generated on Wednesday, according to Ministry of Water and Power statistics. On December 18, the total power generation at peak time was 11,000 megawatts including 4004 MW of hydel, against the demand of 13,595 MW. The shortfall was 2600 MW at peak time.

In the first week of December, hydel generation amounted to 5000 MW, which is expected to come down to less than 1000 MW from December 26 onward when the canals will be closed down by Indus River System Authority for five weeks. The reduced generation will cause six to eight hours of load-shedding across the country on a daily basis, according to Ministry of Water and Power officials.

Instead of enhancing gas supply to the power plants, the federal government on Tuesday cut 85 mmfcd gas supply to them and gave it to the industries in clear violation of its own National Power Policy, which gives priority to the power sector over the industrial sector. This will further reduce power generation by at least 500 MW, increasing power outage durations by another hour and a half.

Dar defended the decision of shifting gas to the industries and argued that this was necessary to maintain the momentum of economic growth, which picked up in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

The Gross Domestic Product growth registered at 5% in July-September period of the current fiscal year as compared to the comparative period of the previous fiscal year.

He added that in difficult times, the nation has to make a choice between bearing comparatively more load-shedding during winters and gaining the dividends of growth or shutting down the industries and increasing unemployment.

The minister said the government was also trying to bring a thermal power plant on the national grid system, which had been shut down due to administrative reasons.

He said the government’s decision to clear Rs503 billion circular debt not only saved Rs55 billion annually on account of interest but also added 1700 MW electricity into the system. There was daily load-shedding of sixteen to eighteen hours in the country during the last months of the previous government due to non-payment of this amount, the finance minister stated.

Dar said the government was working to find long-term solutions to the energy problems.