No power shutdowns on account of uplift works in Ramazan: cabinet body approves

ISLAMABAD: Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) unanimously approved on Tuesday that no power shutdowns will be carried out on account of development works during Ramazan.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad decided that factors including increase in use of electric appliances because of economic prosperity and behavioral patterns of power consumers should be included in the estimation of projected power demands.

CCE accorded in-principle approval for establishment of a new LNG based 1,200 MW capacity power plant.

Nawaz Sharif directed to work out shifting of scheduled outages of power plants on account of repairs and maintenance from summer season to winter season so that maximum power is provided when most required during months of peak power demand.

He emphasized that pro-active planning should be exercised regarding power supply and demand.

The prime minister said it was very unfortunate that planning by relevant authorities was undertaken without inculcating important contingency factors that could not be ruled out.

He directed the Ministry of Water and Power to undertake power supply and demand analysis till the year 2023 so as to undertake integrated long-term planning with regard to fulfilling energy requirements of the country over the foreseeable future.

Secretary Water and Power Division briefed the meeting on progress of decisions made in the previous meeting including working of the inter-ministerial committee of Finance, Water and Power and Petroleum and Natural Resources ministries, power supply and demand analysis till September 2018 and utilization of idle power plants.

Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Minister and other senior officials attended the meeting.