Sindh to end KE’s monopoly to make cheap electricity available: Imtiaz

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh has said that the provincial government has been making efforts to end the monopoly of K-Electric so the residents of Karachi could get cheap and reliable electricity from other private sector organisations.

He stated this while talking to the media at the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony for 400 Megawatts hybrid renewable power project to be built in the Jhimpir area of Sindh. The MoU was signed between the Engro Energy and Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company (STDC).

The agreement had been signed to lay transmission lines by the STDC for transmitting 400 MW renewable electricity to be generated by the project to the local industries in the province. The hybrid energy project would utilise wind and solar power to generate renewable electricity. It was the first of its kind hybrid renewable energy project to be launched in the province in collaboration with the private sector.

The per unit cost of the electricity to be produced by the project would be as low as Rs 8. The project would go a long way in setting up more industries in the province for enhancing exports of industrial goods from Pakistan.

The minister said Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had always encouraged the use of renewable energy resources available in the province to overcome electricity shortfall in the country. He said the utilisation of alternative electricity sources would enable Pakistan to achieve a prominent place on the globe on the basis of its efforts to promote usage of green energy. He said the agreement showed that the Sindh Energy Department was fully committed to exploit abundantly available renewable energy resources in Sindh.