Energy crisis in Pakistan will be reduced to some extent claims Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar

Energy crisis in Pakistan will be reduced to some extent claims Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar

Wednesday, June 6, 2012: Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar,Water and Power Minister, on an optimistic note, has said that power production in Pakistan will improve gradually as efforts are under way to provide sufficient fuel to power plants
to help them utilise maximum capacity.

After taking oath as the new water and power minister, Mukhtar said this during a visit to the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) office, where he reviewed ongoing water and power projects.

Early relief to people by minimising electricity shortfall was the foremost priority of the ministry, he said, adding a target-oriented strategy was also being devised to enhance recoveries, reduce system losses and curb electricity
theft.

“Improved governance is the key to improving cash flow of power distribution companies to minimise load-shedding. Efficiency of officials at various tiers will also be improved,” he said.

Referring to the ailing financial health of power companies, the minister asked power sector managers to put in concerted efforts to achieve the targets set for them.

Earlier, in a briefing to the minister, Wapda Chairman Shakil Durrani pointed out that river flows had started improving, leading to an increase in hydropower generation. He expressed the hope that the situation would improve further
as temperature continued to rise in catchment areas of water reservoirs.

Discussing the least-cost energy generation plan, Durrani said Wapda was working on 17 large projects to generate more than 20,000 megawatts of electricity and store about 11.75 million acre feet of water. Hydropower projects with
cumulative capacity of 400MW would come online in the current year.

He claimed that Wapda projects would not only meet water needs of the country but would also produce low-cost hydroelectric power.

In another briefing, the minister was apprised of the power demand and supply scenario, measures being taken to reduce shortfall and financial issues faced by the power sector including receivables and payables.

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Jun 7 2012. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry