Islamabad: Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Khalid Saeed has said that the country has the capacity to produce 21,000 megawatts of electricity but at present only 17,000 mw is being generated due to lack of funds.
The load shedding could be ended, if Pakistani government would provide appropriate money for the purpose, he told meeting of Senate’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Division, which was held at Parliament House on Tuesday.
The meeting was presided over by its chairman Senator Shahid Bugti. The committee reviewed the affairs regarding power production and shortfall of the country.
The chairman said that due to non-payment to power companies, the circular debt is on rise. Furnace oil and gas is not supplied to them timely. Moreover, maintenance of power plants is not carried out since long due to lack of finances. By virtue of these factors, the power production is not on full scale according to country’s capacity and 4,000 mw of electricity is being produced less than the full capability whereas the country is facing the shortfall of some 4,500 megawatts.
“Unluckily Pakistan is among the one of the most expensive power producing countries. The electricity generated from nuclear power costs Rs 4 per unit, whereas power produced from natural gas costs Rs 7 per unit. The most costly is furnace oil, which produces electricity at Rs 18 per unit. If we add all the expenditure, the cost power generation on furnace oil could be double”, he added
On the occasion MD WAPDA told the committee that most of the power plants of the public sector have become obsolete and outdated, as the maintenance of these was not done for many years as they have crossed their prescribed age limits of 40 years. He said that due to lack of funds the power production has been affected badly. He said that no offer for power production was received from China.
The Chairman committee urged upon the government to make payments to power generation companies at an early date .He also asked to issue all necessary tenders to enhance the power production at an early date. The committee also directed NEPRA to form complaint center at all four provinces and concrete steps should be taken to remove the public’s complaints.
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