ISLAMABAD (APP) - Director General of Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) Muhammad Khalid Thursday expressed an optimism that 2500MW additional electricity would be added to the system by June, 2010.
Addressing a new conference here at IESCO headquarters, he said eight Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and eight Rental Power Plants (RPPs) would start generating 2500MW electricity by June this year, which would help manage the summer-increased load in a better way. Currently,
total power generation in the country is around 9,589MW against the demand of 13,802MW showing shortfall of 4,213MW in peak hours.
However, the DG PEPCO said that the shortfall varies time-to- time and is totally depends on demand and supply of the commodity. He said some power plants are closed for annual maintenance work in October, November, February and March that reduce the 1004MW electricity production.
Khalid said the government has evolved an effective strategy to meet the growing demand of electricity under short, mid and long- term plans.
To a question, he said the PEPCO has exempted defence related sensitive installations, public sector school and universities, water supply schemes from the load-shedding.
Commenting on the financial position of the company, he said its circular debt is around Rs. 150 billion, while different organizations has to pay Rs. 180 billion to PEPCO.
The DG advised the consumers to avoid excessive use of electricity so that the load-shedding duration could be curtailed to maximum extent.
He said sufficient electricity could be saved if the consumers start using energy efficient equipments, which would not only help the government to manage the load but also reduce their monthly bills substantially.
He said ordinary uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems available in the market consume five units to generate one unit ultimately increasing load as well as electricity bill.
