ISLAMABAD
The general public and national exchequer will have to bear the additional burden of billions of rupees by 2019 on account of capacity payments to power producers for generating electricity in the country, it was learned reliably.
Official sources in power ministry, on condition of anonymity, informed that the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has warned the water & power ministry that there will be surplus power generation by the end of 2019 in the country. This surplus electricity will be generated from the under-construction power projects. They said power plants will be kept shut down for long hours while the general public and national exchequer will have to bear additional burden only because of low demand in comparison to the power production during the said year.
“Following the warning of NTDC about surplus power generation by 2019, the water & power ministry has decided to collect information/data on power demand from an international firm,” said sources.
It is important to note here that power and planning ministries have initiated above $ 30 billion worth 26 power projects with installed capacity of 18,000 megawatt without obtaining the information/data on the demand for electricity. And, Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif while chairing a meeting of CCE on 30th May had advised the power ministry to present a report on future electricity demand of the country. PM was worried over the unannounced hours-long power cuts being made during the holy month of Ramzan despite record production of electricity.
Sources in PM Office also told that Secretary, Water and Power Ministry Yusuf Naseem Khokar, had informed the PM on 6th June that there was no record available in the ministry regarding the actual demand for electricity during the years 2018 to 2020.
Copies of official documents of NTDC available with Pakistan Today declared present demand of electricity at 25,000MW and warned the power ministry that power production will be in surplus during 2019 due to the on-going power projects.
It is worth mentioning here that country’s power sector has been struggling to control the prevailing energy crisis in the country. And, according to the power sector expansion plan, there will be a surplus of electricity in the country by the end of 2019. However, despite the massive expansion plan currently under way, the problem of prolonged and widespread load-shedding across the country has continued to defame the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.
