Category: Highlights

Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on Friday said the government and the people were bearing the burden of energy sector circular debt due to expensive power generation contracts signed by previous governments. Addressing a press conference flanked by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib in Islamabad, he said a major component of circular debt was the capacity payment to the power plants, which now reached to Rs700-800 billion from Rs150 billion in 2013. He said the circular debt would jump to Rs2,500-3,000 billion by 2030, adding, the…

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Since the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the government of China has brought $25.4 billion investment to Pakistan with more than 70,000 jobs, said Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, while addressing the 4th Exchange Mechanism Conference under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Consortium of Universities, Gwadar Pro reported on Friday. According to Nong Rong, for six consecutive years China has remained the top trading partner of Pakistan, adding that “seventh consecutive year China became the first investment source country of Pakistan.” He said that moving into the new era, especially…

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It looks as though Finland is starting to come back around to the idea of nuclear power – and that they plan on taking their advocacy for very-low emission energy to the European Union. The country will now lobby the EU for a “sustainable” label on nuclear power. The EU’s decision on whether or not nuclear is “sustainable” has yet to be made. Despite the fact that plants are emission-free, “nuclear is currently considered only a low-carbon energy source due to emissions caused by mining and transport,” Euractive wrote this…

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The U.S. Interior Department plans to hold up to seven lease sales for offshore wind as part of efforts to boost the country’s wind power capacity to 30 GW by 2030. “The Interior Department is laying out an ambitious roadmap as we advance the Administration’s plans to confront climate change, create good-paying jobs, and accelerate the nation’s transition to a cleaner energy future,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “This timetable provides two crucial ingredients for success: increased certainty and transparency. Together, we will meet our clean energy goals while addressing…

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The Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) on Wednesday awarded licences to carry out oil and gas exploration activities in Attock district of Punjab province and Loralai district of Balochistan, under its strategy to make the country self-reliant in energy sector. Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar witnessed the Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) awarding ceremony, a Petroleum Division news release said. The ELs and PCAs were be signed by Secretary Petroleum Division Dr Arshad Mahmood, Hammad Azhar said $ 30,000 would be spent to undertake social welfare activities…

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