Government making efforts to use idle thermal capacity: Asif

The federal government is making hectic efforts to use the idle thermal capacity in the country by renegotiating arrangements with the closed IPPs and even the rental power plants lying idle, said Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif during his meeting with the Management of Japan Power Generation Company Limited.
The meeting took place to restart power supplies as all formalities in this regard have been finalised according to a press release issued by Japan Power. The low furnace oil rates have encouraged the planners to utilise over 1000 MW of idle power generation capacity. Most of the companies are now awaiting determination of tariff by Nepra.
The chief executive of Japan Power said that an application for determination of tariff would be moved in few days. He said the government's decision would save investment worth billions of dollars. He said Japan Power alone was built at a cost of $350 million.