Pakistan

Lights out

April 22, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Four days of brainstorming has the government coming up with a plan it claims will cut the duration of power outages by at least one-third.

The government hopes to save some 500 megawatts of power a day with a mix of power generation and conservation measures. The energy summit was chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and attended by the chief ministers of the four provinces as well as Water and Power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. The premier said these actions would help overcome unscheduled power outages.

The announced measures include the adoption of two-day weekends by public offices till end July, the closure of commercial markets at sunset, plans for industrial units to take alternate days off so that load can be better managed and a 50 per cent reduction in consumption in all government buildings including the presidential palace and the prime minister house. Besides this, the government has committed to repay Rs116 billion of the circular debt plaguing the system and to monitor the receivables of the sector so that such debts aren’t allowed to pile up. Significantly for Karachi, there are also plans to divert 350 MW from the Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) to other areas, so the burden of outages may be shared more equitably.

Gilani said sub-committees constituted at the energy summit have targeted four areas to recommend measures for the immediate, short-, mediumand long-term. According to Gilani, shortterm plans to generate power include the addition of 300 MWs by making 10 IPPs operational while another 1,300 MWs would be added to the system by the end of year. The controversial Rental Power Projects are expected to contribute over 600 MWs once they come online. Long-term measures include plans to generate 21,000 MW from hydel sources, 30,000 MW from coal and 15,000 MWs through other means, in order to meet the future energy needs of the country.

The prime minister said progress on the implementation of the measures would be reviewed every fortnight and also announced the setting up of a Public Sector Energy Development Fund with Rs 20 billion. The official plan – the government’s first step to arrest the downslide of the country’s power sector – comes at the time public protests against outages look poised to turn into full-blown riots. At present, Pakistan is short of some 5,000 MW and with summer around the corner, this figure is likely to go up.

But the conservation plans are meeting resistance. Traders’ unions in Karachi have threatened to go on strike if they are forced to close shop at 8 p.m. while those in Lahore have rejected the move outright

COMMENTS (6)

ws | 14 years ago | Reply this is fair

Jawad ur Rehman | 14 years ago | Reply Despite this deep power crisis, we haven't learnt from our mistakes and still looking around ways for saving energy through cutting down usage and not coming up with ideas as rightly commented above by Nadir. When will we explore and develop cheap power generation resources like Hydel and nuclear which cost less than Rs 1/kwh, natural gas less than Rs 4/kwh? and why are we running after FO and other expensive means which cost over Rs 8/kwh? We have got all the cheap resources in the world, sea water can be used for producing drinking water through desalination process and power generation through installation of steam turbine. Water generally costs Rs 210/1000 gallon and power not more than Rs 4/kwh.

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Z ali | 14 years ago | Reply WE ARE ALWAYS BUSY BUT DOING NOTHING since 1947

Z ali | 14 years ago | Reply Lets see whats next. I remember last time order was given that in offices A/C wont be used before 11am. No body asked in PM's yesterday breifing that how much electricity saved and how many followed the order.and how it will be implemented as we are the most honest and sincere nation of this world. Why they are not accepting the Iran's/China/Turkey offer for low rate electricity. If they do so atleast that project would be comleted in 4 yrs time and if they started it 2 yrs back than half the work was done till now. I think there is no money for them involved in these projects and in rental power has huge commision for them also IMF is against it. Today i saw news from Iranian Ambassador that they have completed the there work of gas pipline and waitng for Pakistan to do so also Pakistani Govt did not replied them about the electricty offer. Shame on our Govt they dont care about the honesty & sincerity,only money is there Qibla.

Fayyaz Alam | 14 years ago | Reply It is indeed very annoying to see 19th century austerity measures in the 21st century. These are short term measures and should have been put in place when present government took charge. Now is the time to show results - not start something that was due from day one! Developed countries focus on increasing capacity. Our country is hooked on loans while forgetting that right loans for right things can actually be useful. For example, present government could have used its notorious bowl to ask for loans for Solar energy. Still the government could have charged people at the present rate for 5 years or so (till the loans are repaid) and then only charge the money for necessary maintenance. Life could have become more bearable for the poor! It beggars belief that we are a nation where majority of the poor has their skin sun-burnt while that energy remains untapped. Our government should be ready to learn from the likes of Germany that are doing well despite being a country where sun hardly shines. This shows its a matter of resolve than the resources!

Nadir El Edroos | 14 years ago | Reply A major proposal that always seems to be missing from any discussion on power conservation methods is how to weatherize houses and reduce heat (in winter) and cool air (in summers) loses. A lot of energy can be saved by making sure that houses are properly insulated. The government could start by improving insulation in government buildings and departments. It could also start a public awareness campaigns to highlight building techniques to improve insulation. Or perhaps another novel solution as the current advisor on energy to the US president who also happens to be a noble prize winner, has suggested that if all the roofs of buildings were painted white it would help reduce energy consumption by over 20%. Something to consider?

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