Energy projects help resolve loadshedding issue: Leghari

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Friday said that the government has removed the darkness of loadshedding from the country by completing energy projects in a record period of time and added that process of industrial development will be accelerated and job opportunities will be enhanced due to overcoming of energy crisis.

Minister while chairing the 117th meeting of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) here stated that along with other stakeholders of the Power Sector, PPIB has contributed addition of maximum megawatts to the national grid. He said that just five years ago, energy, terrorism and violence were Pakistan’s biggest challenges but our government has overcome these evils within a brief term of five years and we can see that Pakistan is rising towards becoming a strong economy.

The board took various decisions for smooth and effective implementation of ongoing projects. The Board agreed extension in Commercial Operation Dates (CODs) of 330MW Thar Energy Ltd and 330MW ThalNoa Thar Power Limited both at Thar Block-II.

Leghari indicated the need of timely completion and synchronisation of the transmission line project with the upcoming generation projects in Karachi and Thar, as evacuation and transmission of electricity from these plants heavily relies on the timely completion of Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line project. Extension in LOI was also accorded to 300MW Coal Power Project at Gwadar.

Managing Director Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Shah Jahan Mirza briefed the Board on overall performance of PPIB during the last five years in developing Pakistan’s power sector.

Since June 2013, PPIB has managed to handle biggest and most diversified portfolio of its history and delivered exceptional results. Implementation of major portion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy program comprising coal, hydro and transmission line projects was the prime task. PPIB as the leading institution processed these projects diligently. During the past five years PPIB started from twenty-three projects with a cumulative capacity of 17,513MW, while twelve projects of 11,538MW have started construction, and nine projects accumulating to 6920MW have achieved COD and supplying reliable electricity to the national grid, bringing total number of IPPs commissioned through PPIB to 15,469MW.

Mirza added that from the current portfolio of projects being processed by PPIB, we target to add another around 1800MW to the grid by end of this year.

Awais Leghari in his concluding remarks stated that during his tenure as Minister Power Division, the teams at the Power Division, PPIB and other key players, have worked relentlessly to achieve the goals of our government, and the results are not hidden from anyone. He specifically lauded the efforts of PPIB team for concluding such complex agreements and bringing project proposals reality. Minister thanked all Board members for taking out their precious times and providing very positive inputs and with their thoughts processes and wisdom the targets of the government have been achieved.