Concrete strategy in place to meet future energy demands: Awais

ISLAMABAD(APP): Power Division Minister Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari on Tuesday said that a concrete strategy has been put into place to meet the future energy demands of the country.

“As energy always plays a key role in the economy of the country, so generation, transmission, and distribution system of the energy sector is being revamped on modern lines,” he said while addressing a function here at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST).

He said the environment-friendly renewable energy was also being promoted in the country adding that around 17,000 megawatts (MW) were going to be added to the system by 2034. Generation, transmission, and distribution were all part of the power sector but in the past, the generation part has not been added in a healthy manner means at least cost methodology. However, he said we were committed to adding generation on a least-cost methodology basis in the future.

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He said issues with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) were being resolved amicably adding that he is grateful to IPPs for their cooperation to revise the contract condition.

He was of the view that the power has to be generated by the private sector and there should not be a single purchaser like the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) in the country. There must be competition which would not only help reduce the prices of electricity but also create a competitive environment in the country.

Regarding, power distribution companies (DISCOs), the minister said that a sum of Rs595 billion was budgeted every year just for their losses and power theft. “It is unbelievable, unacceptable, and also not sustainable and we have Rs600 billion extra to fund institutions like NUST, etc,” he added.

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He said good professional board members were being put in place in the Board of Directors of these companies to run it in an efficient manner. “It is none of the job of me, a secretary or additional secretaries, etc. to run these entities,” he said.

He went on to say that in the next three years, three DISCOs would be privatized while two DISCOs with Rs150 billion loss would be concessional model reforms.

The minister said that earlier National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) board was not working but now a senior advisor of LUMS was heading it. The NTDC would be bifurcated into three entities, he added.