The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved five energy projects of 3,511 MW, costing Rs 1,303 billion. The Ecnec met with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the chair at the Prime Minister Office on Thursday. The five energy projects included; K-I and K-II Nuclear projects situated in Karachi generation capacity 2,200 MW, cost Rs 958.729 billion, Nandipur project in Punjab, generation capacity 425 MW, costing Rs 57.380 billion, Neelum-Jhelum hydro electric project in AJK, generation capacity 969 MW, costing Rs 274.0 billion. The finance minister said the government is taking up energy projects with the total generation capacity of 3,511MW which when completed would not only be a source of substantial addition to the national grid, but also produce electricity at low cost. He said that 15 years back the energy mix was 75 percent based on cheap fuel and 25 percent on costly oil whereas it has now totally been changed to 25 percent based on cheap fuel and 75 percent on furnace oil. While discussing the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Electric Project which has been approved at revised cost of Rs 274.0 billion against the previous cost of Rs 84.0 billion, the meeting decided that a probe into the huge cost overrun and delay in the project should be made and submitted to the concerned quarters, so that responsibility can be fixed. Similarly, the Ministry of Water and Power was also directed that the transmission lines should be completed in tandem with the project. The project would generate 969MW power by constructing a concrete gravity dam on Neelum River at Nauseri District Muzaffarabad. Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Project will help in generation of cheap electricity for people as envisioned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) of nearly 425-525MW capacity comprising 3(03) NOS gas turbines and 1(01 NO) original cost of Rs.22.335 billion are revised and approved steam turbine unit at the existing site of Nandipur small hydle power station where sufficient land and infrastructure is available was also approved by the ECNEC. The project is proposed to be funded from PSDP/Gencos own resources. The Ecnec approved Karachi Costal Power Project (Unit-I&II), with the generation capacity of 2117 MW each. The total cost of Karachi Costal Power Project (Unit-I&II) is estimated Rs.958.729 billion. This project located in Karachi, Sindh would go a long way in meeting the uninterrupted energy requirement of the south of the country. The Ecnec approved the project of Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS) located in Sindh and Punjab with cost of Rs.19.695 billion. The Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite project is part of National Satellite Development Programme for space technology and its application will be in Pakistan, institutional capacity building of Suparco and relevant organizations. PRSS will carry optical pay load that will produce high resolution earth images with stereo capabilities. The image quality produced by PRSS system shall be in accordance with defined international standard. The Ecnec approved the addition of 3rd, 4th and 5th lanes to Kashmir Highway from Peshawar More to GT Road (including construction of new bridge for additional carriage way) Islamabad. The revised project envisages rehabilitation/improvement of existing two lanes (Flexible pavement) and addition of one more flexible pavement as 3rd lane and an addition of two rigid pavements as 4th and 5th lanes (each 3.65m wide) on northern and southern carriage way of Kashmir Highway between Peshawar More and GT Road measuring 11km. The revised PC-I cost for the project is Rs.4689.0 million against original cost of Rs.2191.0 million. The Finance Minister said finances for all the approved projects should be timely arranged and their monitoring would be carried out regularly so that they do not suffer or delayed from want of resources. The projects should be completed on schedule so that its benefits and value for the money are achieved. Dar said the government had taken a bold decision to settle the circular debt which stood at Rs.503 billion and has already paid Rs.322 billion to private power producers while the remaining would be settled within announced time. This measure would add 1700MW of electricity to the national grid, said. The IPPs have been mandated to use coal instead of oil and bring about the change in the next 18 months which will bring down the average cost of power production,
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 06:46:30 +0000
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