ISLAMABAD: Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that the country has coal deposits enough to generate 100,000-megawatt electricity.
He expressed gratitude to the chief minister of Sindh for cooperation adding that there will be lesser power load shedding in the summer compared to the previous year due to addition of 2,646MW electricity from Thar coal.
“We have sufficient resources to generate electricity with expensive fuel, but the government has opted minimum power generation with expensive fuel,” Dastgir said.
“The former government committed criminal negligence during its four years tenure, by opting not to use Thar coal for power generation.
“We have to create permanent new sources for power generation,” he said. “Advance meters will be installed in the areas of excessive of power theft thus to curb theft with the use of the technology,” Khurram Dastgir said.
“Advance metering will also help to resolve the issues related with over-billing,” energy minister said.
He hinted at reforms in the Discos and said that a solar power project will be installed in Muzaffargarh district. “Cheaper electricity is being included in the power system,” he said.
Energy minister said that 100-megawatt electricity being imported from Iran will be provided to the port city of Gwadar.
He said that the IMF have apprehensions over the circulatory debt of the power sector.
Earlier in a parliamentary hearing, the minister said that Thar-Matiari Transmission Line will be in operation by April 2023, adding that a cut-out point is being established between South and North to stop country-wide blackout of the electricity in future.
He suggested that the Standing Committee should hold in-camera meeting so that causes of exorbitant load-shedding may be shared with them.
He acknowledged that governance issues are high in the power sector, adding that improving governance is essential to correct the power sector.
The Minister said the government is to outsource recovery in the five highest loss-making feeders so that recovery can be improved with the participation of private sector, clarifying that privatisation of Discos is not on the cards. At present, consumers who pay their bills are also paying the cost of theft.
“We want bills payers’ not to be punished by paying the bills of power thieves,” he maintained.
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