Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the power ship, Kaya Bey, he said that the government is aware of the power crisis and that the rental power ship will help to reduce the shortage. Ashraf added that the electricity tariff in Karachi would not go up to Rs17 per unit. Consumers pay Rs14 per unit at present. The ceremony was also attended by the Sindh chief minister and Adviser to CM on Information Sharmila Farooqui.
Ashraf said that Pakistan had not paid any advance for the plant.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah informed that 2,500 MW electricity will be generated in the next two years from Thar coal under the pact with Engro. He claimed that power generation through rental power plants will not be expensive.
The government is also building dams to generate cheap electricity as an alternative to the power produced by furnace oil, which is quite expensive, Ashraf informed.
The Kaya Bey, which is the world’s largest marine power-generating plant, arrived at Karachi Port on November 19 after a 12-day journey from Turkey’s Tuzla port. It is the result of an agreement inked between the governments of Pakistan and Turkey three years ago.
Temporarily anchored at Karachi Port Trust’s berth Nos. 4 and 5, Kaya Bey is likely to start generating electricity from next month. The ship will be permanently docked between the Korangi Thermal Power Station and Jamot Jetty on November 24.
The rental power plant has a power-generation capacity of 232 megawatts (MW), 220 MW of which will be supplied to different areas of the city through Korangi Thermal Power Station. Pepco and the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) have completed arrangements needed to set up the network, including testing the system through which electricity will be supplied.
Once this plant starts working, Wapda will cut down 220MW of the 600MW that it used to supply Karachi. Therefore, for Karachi’s consumers there will be no increase in the actual supply. It is simply a shift in the source.
KESC, under a five-year power purchase agreement signed with NTDC/Pepco earlier this year, will continue to receive up to 650 MW of power during the term of this agreement. The arrival of the power ship will not add any incremental electricity units to the KESC network. This new project has been managed and imported by the government for the state-run Pepco and its distribution companies, which will run the plant and utilise its electricity, stated a KESC press release.
Nuray Atacik, director of Turkish power company Karkey Karadeniz Electrik that owns the ship, said that electricity shortage is a tricky problem for countries because as governments ponder over strategies and plans, the problem continues to aggravate and the demand for electricity rises.
According to Atacik, running and maintaining the ship requires around $20 million to $25 million. After the plant has been started off, with the help of Turkish experts who are here right now, it will be handed over to Pakistani experts.
The many benefits of having a power plant on water include electricity supply that can remain uninterrupted even in the case of floods and earthquakes.
Jamaat-e-Islami speaks out against the power ship
Amir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sindh chapter Asadullah Bhutto has termed the rental power plants a “conspiracy against poor people”. Addressing a rally organized by the Keenjhar Fishermen Welfare Society and Mallah Ittehad on Sunday, he said instead of spending billions of rupees on rental power plants, the government should use Thar coal for power generation. They should also think about resuming the Lakhra power project, which would provide thousands of job opportunities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2010.
1713904359-0/burn-(1)1713904359-0-270x192.webp)
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ