Two weekly holidays, early closure of markets proposed
Saturday, April 17, 2010
By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: The government is contemplating two weekly holidays and early closure of markets to cope with power deficit that has swelled to over 5,000 MW, not only inflicting huge loss on the economy but also adversely affecting the routine life.
The special cabinet committee on energy, headed by Dr Hafeez A Shaikh, adviser to PM on finance, briefed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Friday on its proposals worked out with input from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to not only overcome the chronic power outages, but also resolve the issues of circular debt, receivables of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), diversification of gas to power sector, line losses, inefficiency and enabling the IPPs to increase production, a senior official, who attended the meeting told The News.
The meeting was attended by federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Minister for Petroleum Syed Naveed Qamar, Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, and the NWFP, federal secretaries of the ministries concerned and other senior government officials.
The committee informed the prime minister that two weekly holidays would help save 1,700MW while early closure of markets would also save a lot of electricity. If markets are closed at 6pm, then the country will save 500-550 MW of electricity a day.
In addition, the committee is considering closing all CNG stations once a week, most probably on Sundays, to save gas for use in power sector.Another proposal says that gas supply to fertiliser factories be suspended for a certain period and imported fertiliser be used instead to cater to the countrys needs. This will save huge quantity of gas, which could be diverted to power sector.
A final decision in this regard will be made in the two-day energy conference to be held at the Prime Ministers Secretariat on Monday. The prime minister has asked all chief ministers and the ministers concerned to attend the conference, along with their team of experts, to sort out all impediments, the official said.
The meeting was told that the committee was working out some reasonable allocation of gas for power sector. Right now, non-availability of gas is causing shortfall of 285 MW of electricity. Another 300 MW is lost because of the delay in rehabilitation of the existing plants. The official said that the meetings participants were also informed that in the wake of changes in hydrology and sudden increase in temperature, the system is facing 1,000 MW shortfall.
The official said right now per day oil consumption in thermal sector stands at 31,000 metric tons, but the system is receiving, on average, just 21,000 tons of fuel causing electricity shortfall of about 500 MW per day. The fuel supply has tumbled because of circular debt that has again emerged. Some of the thermal houses are virtually oil guzzlers, he said.
Answering a question, the official said if the required gas is ensured to the power sector, then the system will not only have additional 1,200 to 1,300 MW of electricity, it will also help save Rs 53 billion. If the gas supply of 350 MMCFD is ensured, it will save Rs 53 billion. This will enable the government to avoid 7 per cent increase in power tariff by June 30 as agreed by the IMF.
The official said receivables of Pepco stood at Rs 192 billion up to March 31, while PSO needs to be paid Rs 112 billion. The government of Sindh owes Rs 20 billion, various agencies Rs 27 billion, Hesco Rs 39 billion, NWFP over Rs 15 billion, the government of Balochistan Rs 3.5 billion and federal government Rs 3.5 billion. The private sector also owes Pepco Rs 95 billion.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have also pointed out that deficit of Pepco has increased to Rs 170 billion, out of which it sustains huge loss of Rs 45-50 billion just in the head of line losses, theft and bad management.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said the sugar mill owners have been called for a meeting to finalise details for purchasing electricity from them as per decision of the cabinet. He further mentioned that the pilot project of running tube wells on solar energy had been quite successful and if this system could be adopted in the entire rural sector then some 3,000 MW of electricity could be saved.
The bigger power projects initiated by the government are planned on a long-term basis and are economically feasible as cost per unit is much less. He further informed the meeting that the 220 MW unit gifted by the UAE would be shipped to Pakistan soon and installed in Faisalabad. He said Pakistan is ready to buy gas and electricity from Iran but it would take the Iranian government about five years to complete gas pipeline and transmission lines up to the border with Pakistan.
The prime minister asked the agencies concerned to take immediate measures to ensure fuel supplies to fully utilise the power generation capacities presently lying idle. He also asked for making conservation measures more consistent to have visible impact in the situation on ground. He called for cooperation on the part of provincial governments in energy conservation by ensuring early closure of markets and social functions in the evening by a designated time. He said the IPPs and RPPs projects already cleared must be implemented as soon as possible.
The prime minister asked the ministry of water and power to fast-track their efforts for the commissioning of new hydel and thermal power projects. He directed the ministry to avoid unannounced loadshedding and follow the load management schedule to reduce the hardships of the people.
Two weekly holidays, early closure of markets proposed
