ISLAMABAD: The electricity shortage, now standing at about 3,500 megawatt, is feared to grow in the coming days because low river flows will continue till May 15, followed by disconnection of gas supplies to four independent power plants (IPPs) beyond June.
Sources in the water and power ministry told south on Thursday that overall the shortfall would hover between 4,000 and 4,500MW this season, starting later this month when temperatures rise and push up electricity demand.
That would mean power disruption of nine to 10 hours a day because a shortage of 450MW translates into an average loadshedding of one hour.
The sources said the IPPs had written to the government expressing suspicion that the recent bomb attacks on gas pipelines near Guddu were used as a pretext to divert gas supplies from IPPs to the textile industry after a recent meeting of a delegation of textile industry with the president.
The diversion resulted in disruption of gas supplies to Punjab’s five power plants—Saif, Orient, Saphire, Fauji Kabirwala and Rousch—leading to an additional loadshedding of 1,000MW.
The sources said the gas supply agreements with four IPPs—Saif, Orient, Halmore and Saphire—with a total generation capacity of more than 800MW were to expire on June 30, 2011 and the petroleum ministry had expressed its inability to provide them with gas beyond June.
Three of these projects have been in operation for a year and another is in testing phase.
If they shift to alternative fuel—furnace oil or diesel—the power tariff for 800MW will more than double.
The sources said Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar who presided over a meeting of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) on Thursday was also informed about the growing power shortage.
The meeting was told by the chairman of the Federal Flood Commission that prevailing low river flows would continue till May 15 when snow would start melting in Skardu and other catchment areas in the northern region.
Before that there will be more rainfall which would slightly improve the flows but delay snow melting—the main source of flows in the Indus.
Wapda Chairman Shakil Durrani is reported to have informed the meeting that distribution companies of Pakistan Electric Power Company—formerly a wing of Wapda—are not paying about Rs57 billion dues to Wapda, limiting its capacity to keep the pace of hydropower and irrigation development projects.
He sought the ministry’s help to persuade the companies to clear the dues.
The representatives of the companies said they faced serious problems because of non-payment of dues by public sector consumers, including the federal government and could not make payments to Wapda unless their cash flows improved.
They also requested the minister to persuade the provincial governments to clear the dues, particularly Sindh government which alone had not paid more than Rs35 billion to Pepco.
The meeting was informed that the composition of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) was in the process of being changed from a totally bureaucratic forum comprising federal secretaries to a representative body of the provinces.
In the board, each province will get one member and there will also be presence of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
A summary to this effect has already been forwarded to the Council of Common Interests for approval.An official statement said the minister assured the participants that new IPPs would get maximum government support.
The minister was informed that nine IPPs generating 1,800MW had been commissioned since March 2009 and another three of 600MW were expected to start production next month.
The meeting decided to extend the financial closing date of the 375MW Uch Power Project-II to May 15 to help it make financial arrangements with banks.
The meeting approved the implementation and power purchase agreements of Star Hydro and Patrind Hydropower Project in Azad Kashmir.
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