The addition of 14 RPPs, generating 1,994MW electricity, will not eliminate load shedding completely, said the Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf while briefing the Standing Committee on Water and Power. He further stated that the tariff difference between RFO fuel IPPs and RFO fuel RPPs is 2.55 cents. A meeting of the Standing Committee on Water and Power was held at WAPDA House, Lahore with MNA Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah in the chair.
The meeting was convened especially to discuss the burning issue of Rental Power Projects. The Federal Minister of Water and Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also ensured his presence in order to reply the questions of the members of the parliament representing all the major parties in the Parliament.
Chairman WAPDA, MD PEPCO along with senior officers of the Ministry briefed the committee on the prevailing situation of load shedding and water crisis and why the government considered the option of RPPs. The problem of load shedding first surfaced in the year of 2002-2003 and it aggravated with the passing years. Last year this problem worsened because of lack of Hydro Generation and increased demand of electricity by the industry and domestic sector.
The Standing Committee asked MD PEPCO to focus on the report of Asian Development Bank, especially its reservations and recommendations. The members wanted to know the economic impact of RPPs on the masses. Standing Committee was told that terms of reference was third party audit by ADB were to review the existing demand-supply shortfall, identify options available to fill this gap and evaluation of contracts and tariffs of the contracted RPPs.
The report acknowledged that recent energy shortages have greatly subdued the country's economic growth and there is established shortfall on supply side in the power generation system.
As regard 8 RPPs implementation must be vigorously pursued as per contracts for realisation of maximum benefits of investment made and the focus of the ministry should be on developing primary energy resources such as gas, coal etc for conversion into electricity. These were the factors, which have already been realised by the govt, and steps have been taken to address these issues. The committee also wanted the Ministry to address the communication gap between them and the Members of Parliament.
The Minister for Water and Power emphasised on the fact that the power sector must not be politicised and the media had always been helping the Government to eradicate load shedding. Members of National Assembly, Muhammad Ijaz Virk Advocate, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Sajjad-ul-Hassan, Muhammad Afzal Khokhar, Anjum Aqeel Khan, Bilan Yaseen, Pir Muhammad Aslam Bodla Muhammad Nawaz Allai and Sallahudin, also attended the meeting.