Power sector urged to address circular debt, T&D losses proactively

December 06, 2023 (MLN): Power Sector must tackle circular debt, T&D losses, and DISCOs' outstanding dues urgently on a war-footing basis for sustainable provision of reliable, affordable, and clean energy to the masses, Caretaker Minister for Planning, Muhammad Sami Saeed stated during a meeting on Tuesday.

According to a press release issued on the same day, the Caretaker Minister chaired a meeting to review the progress of the power sector of the ministry.

The Chief Energy section gave a detailed briefing on current statistics, prevalent policies, and new initiatives in the power sector.

The power section of the Planning Ministry is assigned the tasks of technical appraisal of the Power Sector’s development projects to be considered by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The power section is also involved in the planning and policy formulation process and furnishes comments on CCI, Cabinet, ECC summaries, and other reports/Intergovernmental Agreements.

During the briefing, the Planning Minister was also briefed about the prevalent policies in the Power Sector.

In this regard, National Electricity Policy, 2021 was approved in June 2021 by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which laid down six principles for the growth of the Power Sector including Efficiency, Transparency, Competition, Financial Viability, Indigenization, and Environmental Responsibility.

To meet policy goals, principles, and underlying directives in the respective areas as provided in the National Electricity Policy, an objective-oriented National Electricity (NE) Plan has recently been approved by CCoE in August 2023.

The NE Plan envisaged 20 priority areas of intervention including Integrated Energy Planning, System & Market Operations, Electrification, Tariff Design and Subsidy Rationalization.

Among the new initiatives being undertaken in the Power Sector, the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP), and Transmission System Expansion Plan (TSEP) are the notable ones that will shift the electricity market from single-buyer market to bilateral competitive market.

Furthermore, the Energy Wing also proposed further steps which include integrated energy planning of generation, transmission, and distribution sectors, investment in the transmission and distribution sector, legislation for acquisition of land and Right of Way (RoW), technological interventions to curb theft and increase recoveries of DISCOs and management outsourcing of DISCOs.

He also appreciated the power section, for their excellent work carried out for nudging the power sector of the country in the right direction through their efforts in planning, policy-making, and appraisal of development projects.

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