Dastgir launches energy policy report

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir Khan said China has launched a series of power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to help Pakistan meet its residential and industrial electricity demand and Pakistan’s energy shortages have been greatly alleviated.

“Electricity has always been one of the constraints on Pakistan’s development, and China has been able to enhance Pakistan’s energy supply capacity not only through the efficient use of various energy resources but also by helping Pakistan to build various types of power projects,” he said while launching energy policy report “launch of a Report on “Overview of Pakistan’s Power Sector and its Future Outlook”.

China’s Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd (CSAIL), in collaboration with Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), invited the international top industry consultants, social and environmental experts, power industry enterprises, and officials to CPEC Power Projects and launch a Report on “Overview of Pakistan’s Power Sector and its Future Outlook”. Besides, the Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir Khan, Chairman of PPIB Shahjehan Mirza, Director of the Political & Information Office of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Wang Shengjie, Chairman Senate Defense Committee and Pak-China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed and other senior executives of Chinese enterprises in Pakistan. The report systematically summarizes the practical achievements in the construction of CPEC Power Projects, analyzes the current situation of Pakistan’s power sector, highlights the achievements of CPEC Power Projects, and looks forward to the future development direction of the industry. Participating Pakistani experts and scholars said that in the past, there were serious shortages in the electricity supply in Pakistan and CPEC has helped alleviate this problem.

Federal Minister for Energy (Power Division), Khurram Dastgir Khan said that since the launch of CPEC projects are progressing smoothly. He said the report is beneficial to deepen the understanding of Pakistani people on the current situation and future development of Pakistan’s power sector, as well as the contribution of the CPEC to Pakistan’s Power Sector.

He said people in relevant fields in Pakistan should learn from Chinese personnel and deepen industrial cooperation between the two countries through the construction of projects like the CPEC Projects. He said China is an important partner of Pakistan in the energy sector, and China’s development experience is worth learning for Pakistan.

Chairman Senate’s Defense Committee and Chairman Pakistan-China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed termed Pakistan’s relationship with China deep rooted and multifaceted. He also underlined the need for energy security as the basis of economic and political independence of Pakistan, more so imbibing the lessons from the Ukraine war He termed the report a ‘Policy Primer of Pakistan’s Power Sector’ since it aptly describes the on-ground situation of Power Projects in Pakistan and provides detailed analysis regarding opportunities and challenges in the Power Sector.

Zhang Jun, Chief Representative of CSAIL in his speech, said theThree Gorges Group is committed to provide affordable and clean energy for Pakistan, while investing in Pakistan’s power sector, and the Karot Hydropower Project, with a total installed capacity of 720 MW, is a flagship project of the Three Gorges Group in Pakistan.

During the past 7 years of construction of Karot Project, he said we have seen engineers, managers and workers from China and Pakistan working together to overcome very serious events, however, they still achieved the Commercial Operation Date (COD) 54 days ahead of schedule. He said Karot Project has provided 1.3 billion of clean and cheap electricity to Pakistan’s power grid.