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1,200MW to be added by year-end: Ashraf
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The national grid will have another 1,200MW by the end of this year, said Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf while chairing the 85th meeting of the board of Private Power and Infrastructure Board on Monday.
He said that seven projects of 1,265 MW, including a 62-MW rental power project have already been commissioned within a short period of one year. Another 1,200 MW would be added to the national grid by the private sector by the end of this year, reducing the power supply-demand gap, he added. We believe that a crisis also brings opportunities. The decisions taken in the recent Energy Summit have encouraged the private sector to expedite the commissioning of their projects.
The minister appreciated the initiatives of PPIB that include launch of ICB for a 300-MW IPP based on furnace oil, which will be located near Lalian Town, Chiniot, and another ICB for a 300-MW IPP to be located at Sonda Jherruk, Sindh, based on imported coal, which is in final stages.
The representative of SHYDO told the board that feasibility studies for small hydro power projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were in progress. Around 2,000 MW are expected to come online within the next seven to eight years from such projects, they said.
Issuance of LoI to 1,000-MW power project based on Thar coal, being undertaken by Engro Power Generation Limited (EPGL), was approved in the meeting. The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company, a sister concern of EPGL, is already a joint venture partner with Sindh government for development of coal mine at Thar.
Those who attended the meeting included Secretary Water and Power Shahid Rafi, Member FBR Zafar ul Majeed, Additional Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Muhammad Ijaz Chaudhry, Chief (Energy) Planning Commission Arshad Maqsood Malik and Managing Director PPIB N. A. Zuberi.