Six power plants to end loadshedding by end of year

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Ministry of Water and Power has, in principle, set the target to end power loadshedding by end of this year for which six power plants having production capacity of 7,442MW would be completed in next eight months.

A senior government official during an interaction with this correspondent said that the prime minister had recently issued directives to the relevant departments regarding the issue of the power loadshedding and now they had prepared a roadmap according to which six power plants would be completed by end of this year.

"The power plants that would be completed this year include Sahiwal Power Plant (1,320MW); Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant (1,200MW); Balloki Power Plant (1,223MW); Port Qasim Power Plant (1,320MW); Tarbela IV Power Plant (1,410MW); and Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Plant (969MW)," he said.

The official said the Prime Minister House had instructed the Ministry of Water and Power to provide tentative timeframe for inauguration of all these six power projects, making a clear picture of the roadmap aiming at ending power loadshedding from the country.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab government had constituted an 18-member committee headed by MNA Hamza Shahbaz to make arrangements for the inauguration ceremony of Sahiwal Power Plant that would also be attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif and various other members of the federal cabinet.

He said around two-thirds of the country’s electricity was now being produced from fossil fuels, and just one-third from hydro so the prime minister had also directed to focus more on hydro power plants to generate electricity at low prices.

The official said with the aim to provide low-cost electricity the ministry had now prepared proposals to allocate Rs135 billion for seven hydropower projects in upcoming budget under the category of the priority projects.

He said the allocation of funds was for Dassu Hydropower Project (Rs69 billion); Golen Gol Hydro Power Project (Rs12 billion); Tarbela IV (Extension project) (Rs8 billion); Chitral Hydropower Station (Rs10 billion); Mangla Hydropower Project (Rs6 billion); Warsak Hydropower Project (Rs2 billion); and Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (Rs28 billion).

The official said the foreign donors would also provide some Rs80 billion for the power projects that would be used in upcoming fiscal year, adding, "A record amount of funds will be utilised for completion of short-term and long-term power projects."

He said the present government was not restricted to end power shortages from the country by 2018 as the long-term plans of the government included generation of more than 30, 000MW of electricity by 2022.