Month: February 2021

Texas officials knew winter storms could leave the state’s power grid vulnerable, but they left the choice to prepare for harsh weather up to the power companies — many of which opted against the costly upgrades. That, plus a deregulated energy market largely isolated from the rest of the country’s power grid, left the state alone to deal with the crisis, experts said. As Texas faced record-low temperatures this February and snow and ice made roads impassable, the state’s electric grid operator lost control of the power supply, leaving millions…

This refers to the letter ‘Electrical vehicles in Pakistan?’ (Feb 17) by Ammar ul Hassan Chishty. The writer has raised a valid point. Our planners are in the habit of putting the cart before the horse. The government must fix the power sector before it considers spending billions of dollars on the import of electrical vehicles. Even today, we have not moved beyond the assembling of fuel-based vehicles. On the other hand, our neighbouring countries have set up full-fledged manufacturing units. The import of foreign cars doesn’t only drain the…

KARACHI: As cement demand has seen an upsurge amid government’s support to the construction industry, another main player planned a new plant to enhance its production capacity by up to 10,000 tons a day by investing an estimated Rs30 billion, it was learnt on Wednesday. The board of directors of Kohat Cement Company approved setting up of 7,800 – 10,000 tons/day cement manufacturing plant along with 8-10 megawatts of waste heat recovery and 25 megawatts of coal-fired power plant in Khushab, Punjab. “The estimated cost of the entire project is…

The deep freeze will wreak havoc on oil and gas production for several days — if not weeks — according to industry experts, as companies deal with frozen equipment and a lack of power to run operations. Texas produces more oil and natural gas than any other state, and its operators, unlike those in North Dakota or Alaska, are not accustomed to dealing with frigid temperatures. Numerous refineries in Texas have also been shut, though weather events rarely knock substantial amounts of production offline in oil patches far from the Gulf…