Improving Power Supply: Govt aims to increase electricity

ISLAMABAD: The government has started various projects to add 15,000 MW electricity to the national grid by 2017-18 in its bid to cope with the menace of load shedding by organising a mix of local energy sources including hydel and coal. According to a senior official in the Ministry of Water and Power, as many as 4,692 MW power would be added to the national grid by the end of the year 2016-17. He said new LNG power plants are being established, adding that LNG is 50% cheaper as compared to diesel-powered generation plants, saving over Rs100 billion per annum. “Massive investment is also being made to improve the transmission system to enhance capacity,” said the official.  “In last two years, the load shedding has registered decrease in Balochistan thanks to the improvements in distribution system.  The capacity of transformer repairing workshops has also been enhanced for ensuring the uninterrupted distribution in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2015.

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