Sugar mills initiating to gratify needs of power consumers

Islamabad: The government has settle on to allocate private power producers (co-generators) to supply electricity to industrial consumers according to the national co-generation policy for the sugar industry.

This is a helping hand in the demand and supply of energy.
Necessary steps are being taken for a proper and specific policy for the co-generators to clear the way for direct supply of electricity to bulk purchasers, sources say. In this regard, a “wheeling agreement” has been finalized with a power distribution company.

Sugar millers are also pressing for an amendment to the co-generation policy for including coal as fuel for such projects, believing there is a huge potential for power production with the help of coal throughout the year.
The millers have also sought similar incentives as enjoyed by independent power producers (IPPs) like guarantees for purchase of power and making payments, but members of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) have dismissed the demand.

The ECC members were of the view that the grant of fiscal and financial incentives, which were offered to the independent power plants, to co-generation projects might prompt other coal-based power producers to demand similar concessions.
Since the co-generation projects were not purely based on renewable energy, it did not appear to be mandatory to process their cases through the Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB), they said.