'Energy crisis to be overcome with increased power generation'

Director General Energy Management Pepco Tahir Basharat Cheema on Friday said a number of power generation projects are at various stages of completion to meet the soaring consumer demand. Talking to a private TV news channel, he said energy crisis could be overcome with increase in generation and control of wastage of electricity with a range of conservation measures.
The DG Pepco said a number of rented power plants and IPP run plants would be brought into operation. A 1000-megawatt power plant acquired on one year rent would be available for power generation from April 2009 to June 2009. A set of hydel power plants with the generation capacity of 516 megawatts will become operational in coming months.
Fifteen IPPs are working on high efficiency thermal power plants having generation capacity of 2868 megawatts. One of them, Attock power plant will start working soon followed by two plants in Nandipur and Chechokimalyan. Building of micro hydel power projects is also continuing, he added.
The government has set its eyes on the Thar coal project, which has reserves of 184 billion tonnes of the mineral resource enough to supply 100,000 megawatts for more than 400 years. The government has set up Thar Coal Authority with the objective to produce 10,000 megawatts of low cost electricity.
The DG Pepco said work is continuing on five hydel power projects. Neelum Jhelum and Diamer Bhasha dams would produce 1000 megawatts after their completion. Alternate Energy Development Board is working on a project to produce 350 megawatts in next few years. He said although Pepco is now not resorting to loadshedding but the energy crisis has not diminished yet.
He said power sector is intensive needing massive investment but this vital sector was ignored in the previous years. In developing countries, he said power load growth of two to three percent is seen. However in developed countries, mostly there is negative load growth because they are moving towards energy efficiency by increasing production and reducing usage. In Pakistan energy demand grew by 10 percent.
He said during the previous years it was decided that new thermal plants would not be installed by Wapda but by the private sector. Private power infrastructure was established through one widow operation to encourage private investment but this measure could not enhance electricity production, he added. Experts have warned since 2005 about the energy crunch. The government was banking on various under construction power plants to save country from power shortages.
He termed complacency as the main reason for the power crisis, which stifled the economy. He said the government gave relief to the consumers who paid 60 percent of the bills last month. The DG Pepco said the government is introducing a new concept of smart metering using digital meters, which are interactive and accurate. Old meters were tardy and slow and people were having complaints.