National Electricity Plan and new Energy Policy at final stage of development, informs Power Minister Sardar Awais

The National Electricity Plan and new Energy Policy of the Government of Pakistan is at final stages of development and has full participation of the provinces. This plan will be of utmost importance in determining demand and supply scenario of electricity in the country. This was said by the Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari while presiding over 113th meeting of Private Power and Infrastructure Board held here today. He further said that all pending LOIs issued to sponsors will accordingly be evaluated under this plan.

The National Electricity Plan would play a major role in determining the future sources for power generation and reduced tariff which would be based on International Competitive Bidding. The Minister further stated that the Sponsors of Projects should diligently pursue their projects so that projects are implemented well in time while practice of granting extensions in accomplishing various milestones should be avoided so that the plan for capacity addition is not disturbed. Ch. Abid Sher Ali, Minister of State Power Division, amongst other senior federal and provincial government officers attended the meeting.

In today’s meeting, the Board approved execution of Implementation Agreement (IA) with the +660kV HVDC Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line Project, consequently allowing PPIB to execute the agreement for timely implementation of this project of national importance.

The Board also allowed extension in Financial Close date of 1320 MW Imported Coal based Power Project at Hub without affecting the synchronization date of the first unit i.e. 31st December 2018 and Required Commercial Operation Date i.e. 1st August 2019.

The Board accorded approval for submission of ECC Summary for approval of IA and PPA for 1263 MW Trimmu RLNG based Power Project which is being implemented on fast track basis by the Government of Punjab. The Minister and Board members expressed their satisfaction on the progress of ongoing projects being handled by PPIB and urged PPIB to keep abreast on the progress of said projects. The Federal Minister said that there are other aspects of the energy crisis which we are tackling on war footing, including constraints in the transmission segment of the power sector, inefficiencies in the distribution system, the circular debt burden and inadequate checks on power theft.

Eradicating load shedding, harnessing indigenous potential, controlling wrong meter-reading/over-billing and introducing net-metering are extraordinary achievements of the government which will be instrumental in making our electricity network efficient.