Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while speaking at a ceremony during his visit to Bhikki Power Plant on Wednesday has said 84 percent work has been completed at a cost lower than the tariff. He also congratulated the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for satisfactory level of work at the project site.
Bhikki Power Plant is a gas powered plant with a total capacity of 1180MW that will be fully operational by the end of 2018. So far 84 percent work has been completed and the plant will be initially producing 716MW before summer, this year. It is estimated that the Bhikki Power Project, due to its low cost and efficient plant machinery will save around Rs 250 billion over a period of 30 years. It has one of the most efficient and state-of-the-art gas powered turbines that produce electricity without wastage, while being environmentally friendly at the same time. It is among the priority projects earmarked by the government to reduce electricity shortfall in the country.
He underlined that billions of rupees were saved in power projects, adding that government efforts were yielding positive economic results. He vowed that transparency was being ensured in mega power projects. He said that no other government in the past bothered to work on motorways. However, the present government is now working on Lahore-Karachi Motorway speedily.
Earlier, the PM visited different parts of the power plant and inspected the progress on project. In his address, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that work was being completed speedily at Bhikki, Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power plants. He said that the federal government extended its full cooperation for timely completion of these power projects.