Day: December 13, 2019

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has planned to invest $2 billion in the energy sector of Pakistan over a period of three years, said a delegation of the bank. “The ADB remains top energy-sector partner with $2.1 billion worth of portfolio and $300 million released this week for reforms including addressing the circular debt,” said a high-level ADB team, headed by Director General for Central and West Asia Department Werner Liepach. They met with Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum…

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Madrid, 11 December – Nations around the world can make breakthroughs in the shift to renewable energy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said today, adding that such a move would drastically cut emissions and help the world get on track to meet the Paris climate goals and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Action by countries to stop the continued progression of fossil fuels is possible, UNDP and IRENA said at a joint event held at the UN Climate Summit in…

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ISLAMABAD: In a bid to secure the remaining installments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$6 billion bailout package, the government has started work on a plan to empower the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to directly pass on gas price increases to consumers. The proposed plan is to be discussed in a cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday (today) with the prime minister in the chair. Presently, OGRA decides on the revision in gas prices bi-annually, in January and July. The government cross subsidizes the gas prices and passes on…

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“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 to John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yashino for the development of lithium-ion batteries,” read a press release issued by nobelprize.org a few weeks ago. These batteries, the release says, have the potential to create a fossil fuel-free society. A few weeks later, our federal minister for science and technology announced that a major Chinese battery maker would set up a lithium battery manufacturing facility in Pakistan. While further details are awaited,…

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ISLAMABAD: The government has notified an increase of 11 paisa per unit in electricity prices in a bid to apply a uniform tariff to all categories of consumers, except for domestic consumers. The tariff increase has been notified on account of periodic tariff adjustment for the first-quarter (Jul-Sept) of fiscal year 2019-20, as determined and recommended by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). Earlier, the power-sector regulator had decided to transfer the burden of Rs14.780 billion on to consumers on account of power purchase price adjustment for the first…

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