Month: August 2020

Taming the monster of higher electricity prices-II

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Power sector problems in Pakistan are acute, chronic, and have accumulated over decades. They are also multi-dimensional and not restricted to any one aspect of the sector. They all, however, have culminated into feeding the monster, “the higher-than-normal electricity prices”. There is no easy way out of the present quagmire. A carefully-crafted reform program will be needed to plug the holes in the short-run and a treatment spread over medium- to long-run to heal it back to health. An old English saying offers a short-term remedy: “If you find yourself…

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Unutilized capacity of government LNG Regasification Terminals to be auctioned

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ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to auction unutilized capacity of LNG Regasification Terminals not under government’s use on a short-term basis, Business Recorder reported on Wednesday. Currently two LNG Regasification Terminals are operational, one each under Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and Pakistan LNG Terminals Limited (PLTL). While SSGCL terminal is operating near capacity, the PLTL terminal is under-utilized with an average utilization of only 51 percent in 2019-20. This excess and unutilized capacity is causing the tarrif to shoot up from the levelized tarrif which casued additional burden of…

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Govt starts working to set up AJK Disco

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ISLAMABAD: The government has initiated working on its plan to create Azad Jammu and Kashmir electricity distribution company (AJK Disco). However, the analogy of the AJK Disco will be as a bulk consumer that will purchase the electricity from three Discos of the country such as Iesco, Pesco and Gepco. AJK DISCO will go into the jurisdiction of Nepra and the regulator will determine the tariff and this is how the AJK electricity distribution will come under rules and regulations of Nepra. The government has initiated its working on making…

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Excess’ payments to IPPs: Prospects for Consensus Improve

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ISLAMABAD: Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and government’s team are said to have completed four rounds of talks but “crucial things” are yet to be tabled and agreed between the parties, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. The newly-constituted committee representing the government is headed by Chairman Federal Land Commission Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad and comprises an officer of Power Division not below a Joint Secretary, Muhammad Ali, former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and Barrister Qasim Wadood. However, now a senior officer of an intelligence agency, who played a vital…

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Duration of electricity interruption much higher in Pakistan: WB

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ISLAMABAD: The World Bank, in its first comprehensive stock-taking of infrastructure services in Asia, says although electricity access in Pakistan is in line with regional averages of 92.5 per cent, the average interruption duration and frequency values are much higher. This is apparent from frequent power outages due to loadshedding. Pakistan suffers from outdated facilities and a complex distribution system vulnerable to damage, the report says. The government plans to add capacity and diversify the energy sector by commissioning more hydropower plants, with Chinese support under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor…

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