ISLAMABAD: Growing circular loans and capacity payments by the government, along with running more and more inefficient power plants, have hit the economy heavily as the country's industry has lost its competitiveness, said a letter by FPCCI President Nasser Hayat Maggo. Lost manifold. Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The letter, with the title "Save Pakistan from economic collapse by addressing energy sector issues", addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, called for action against K-Electric for its complete failure to provide uninterrupted power and a steep hike in electricity rates. Because it involves running its most inefficient plants on furnace oil, which is a costly fuel.
The FPCCI president, in his letter, in his letter to fix the problems of the energy sector, submitted a set of eight recommendations to the PM, asking for a detailed technical audit of all thermal power plants in KE at the earliest. He also called for the immediate retirement of 1,250 MW Bin Qasim-El along with two LPPs Gul Ahmed and Tapal. "Fuel (gas or oil) for these power plants can be allocated to other efficient power plants connected to the national electricity grid with high efficiency to reduce the cost of electricity."
And to strengthen Karachi's development future, he asked the Prime Minister to increase the power generation of 7,320 MW Port Qasim Coal Plant, 7,320 HUB Coal Power Plant, 7,200 MW HABCO and 7,7OO MW KANUPP-2 (Karachi Nuclear Power Plant). Also requested to dedicate. ) with the upcoming 660 MW Lucky Coal Electric Power and 1,100 MW KANUPP-3 for Karachi. All these power plants are established in Karachi. All the EPC cost of the 1,200 MW HABCO power plants has been paid by the public through tariffs, so now the Government of Pakistan must take control of this power plant. There is a need for setting up of an independent technical commission to probe NEPRA and power ministry officials involved in this most sophisticated offense of giving over Rs 500 billion tariff differential subsidy (TDS) to KE since privatization, he said. Which has almost put the country on the verge of economic collapse. He asked the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Power to supply surplus power from the national grid to KE by building new 500kV and 220kV interconnections. "This action will help meet KE's electricity demands and prevent huge capacity payments to nearly idle power plants connected to the national grid." He also called for setting up of an Energy Security Unit in the Prime Minister's Office in collaboration with FPCCI to oversee the power and oil and gas sector.
Nasser Hayat Mago also mentioned that in Karachi, the bulk of it is regularly submerged in darkness. K-Electric, which was privatized in 2005, has come under repeated scrutiny due to its illegal profit-maximizing business practices and countless accidents that led to prolonged blackouts and frequent load shedding . Maggo said that the time has come to make energy security at affordable prices a part of national security. The Indian establishment declared almost two decades ago that energy security is an important part of national security.
However, when contacted, spokesperson K-Electric said that "all of our generation plants, including the legacy power plant Bin Qasim Power Station 1 (BQPS-I), have efficiency equal to or better than comparable power plants of the same class operating in the national grid." These details can also be verified through NEPRA's State of Industry Reports."
The spokesman said: "KE is investing approximately USD 650 million for the installation of its flagship 900 MW RLNG-based Bin Qasim Power Station 3 (BQPS-III), which is progressing rapidly towards commissioning Upon completion, BQPS-III will be among the top five-most efficient plant in the country. To secure RLNG supply for the plant, KE signed a GSA with Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) in August 2021; The utility looks forward to getting the fuel required to generate maximum power to meet the demand of Karachi in the coming summer months.
“Since privatization, the company has invested over Rs 410 billion in the value chain as of June 2021, with highly efficient generation capacity exceeding 1,000 MW and doubling its transmission and distribution capacity, compared to nearly Rs. Has significantly reduced the line loss from 36 pcs to 17.5. PC by FY 2021. Due to these investments, KE has successfully exempted more than 75 pcs of its service sector, including 100 pcs exemptions to industries.