‘KE committed to facilitating industrial customers’

K-Electric said on Saturday it was fully committed and engaged with industry stakeholders to ensure fresh electricity connections as well as load-enhancement for its industrial consumers,

In a statement, the power utility said it has always prioritised its industrial customers and continues to do so following the recent decision of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) to discontinue the gas supply to captive power plants of non-export related industries. It has been working round the clock to ensure that there is minimal disruption to industrial activities.

It said: “As per surveys conducted by the power utility, the overall load-requirement/load-enhancement of captive power plants that will be connected to the grid is around 747 MW, spread across 743 customers.

More than 500 customers have already been contacted by the power utility for load requirements amounting to around 300 MW. Permission for survey for load-requirement or load-enhancement is still awaited from around 100 customers.

“The power utility’s Network Planning team has charted out a detailed plan to highlight the captive requirement of industrial zones and the investment required to facilitate this requirement. Based on the current surveyed load an investment plan of approximately PKR 3.7 billion has already been finalized, which will be increased based on the completion of further surveys and load requirement. Working on a fast track, out of the 743 customers, more than 120 applications are already under process for new connection or load enhancement for a total of around 130 MW and 16 applications for total load of 17 MW has already been eneregized, comprising both new connections as well as load-enhancement.”

The power utility further said: “The entire effort is being overseen by the K-Electric leadership and delegations led by Amer Zia, Chief Distribution Officer have already visited several industry associations, including Federal B Area Association of Trade & Industry (FBATI), Bin Qasim Association of Trade & Industry (BQATI), North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI), Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI) and the SITE Superhighway Association of Trade Industry (SSHATI). These visits were held to brief them on the power utility’s approach in line with their needs and to make sure their concerns regarding quantity, quality and reliability of power supply are addressed.

“K-Electric is also in continuous engagement with Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) and other stakeholders including the city administration to discuss the way forward and issues such as right-of-way, etc. KE hopes that all concerned stakeholders will also play a facilitating role in line with the government’s commitment to expedite new connections.” It said that as part of its continuous engagement with industrial consumers, which have always been a priority for KE.