The government is actively pursuing hydropower projects to meet the country's growing electricity demands, sources have claimed. Their claim points to a 9,550-megawatt hydropower project which is in advance stage of construction. This project is part of an under-construction run-of-the-river hydroelectric power scheme designed to divert water from the Neelum River to a power station on the Jhelum River. The power station is located in Azad Kashmir in south of Muzaffarabad and will have an installed capacity of 969 megawatts. The construction began in 2008 after a Chinese consortium received a contract in July 2007, the sources added.
"Work on the Neelum-Jhelum project is in advance stages and its first unit of 242 megawatts will start generation in July next year. Three other units of hydel project will also start by the end of next year," the sources said. They also talk about the first unit of Tarbela fourth extension generating 470 megawatts during the current fiscal year. The pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of approximately 18,875-megawatt hydro projects have been completed.
"These projects are under various stages of approval and finances are being arranged for them," the sources added. They also said the government prefers cheap power units to reduce the cost of generation and consumer tariffs and improvement of the transmissions system of distribution companies is being made while efforts are afoot to tackle circular debt. It is understood that the National Power Policy envisages providing affordable electricity through efficient generation, transmission and distribution system. To begin with, the government promptly retired the long outstanding circular debt of Rs 480 billion which resulted in adding 1,752 megawatts to the national grid, thus providing instant relief to people.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor portfolio encompasses early harvest projects of 10,400 megawatts and actively promoted projects of 6,645 megawatts. "The 12,000-megawatt-hydropower projects are currently under process," the sources said. "Various energy projects presently being pursued on top priority are designed to produce 43,127 megawatts of electricity by 2018-19."
It may be noted that energy crisis has plagued the economy for many years and hampered it from realizing its full potential, stunting not only the growth of economy but also adding to the miseries of citizen and business community. In order to address this crisis, the Punjab government has not only initiated energy projects from its own sources but also focusing on providing an enabling environment to attract private sector investment in energy sector.
The major energy projects currently ongoing in Punjab included: 1180MW Bhikhi Power Plant at Sheikhupura, 1223MW Baloki Power Plant in Kasur, 1320MW Qadirabad Power Plant at Sahiwal and 1230MW Haveli Bahdur Shah Plant at Jhang. The government also achieved a major breakthrough in renewable energy sector when 100MW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Plant was commissioned in July 2015. This has invited private sector for investment in renewable energy and keeping in view the potential of investment, the government has embarked upon the policy of divestment of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Plant.
Moreover, the Punjab government is also working with leading International Financial Organizations to create an energy fund of US 1.5 to 2.0 billion dollars for the development of energy infrastructure. This is going to be a huge step forward contributing to improve the provincial financial indicators and boost the investors' confidence.
During the FY 2015-16, Rs 31 billion allocated in this sector. Major programmes included the establishment of RLNG Power Project at Bhikki (Rs 15 billion), establishment of coal base power projects, (Rs 9 billion) and development of hydel power project under REDSIP (Rs 3.5 billion). These projects are scheduled on fast track completion within 2 to 3 years and over 8000MW will be added to the national grid by these private sector projects.