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Monday, May 24, 2010
Power generation to be doubled in 10 years: Gilani* PM announces government’s vision statement for power sector
* Plans to attract maximum private investmentLAHORE: The country’s power generation capacity will be doubled from the current 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW within the next decade, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Sunday.
Announcing his government’s vision for the power sector at the inauguration ceremony of the 62 MW Gulf Rental Power Plant in Gujranwala, he said that efforts would be made to maximize efficiency gains in power plants and in transmission/distribution networks, adding that power projects would be completed with maximum private investments.
“The power sector is the government’s priority and efforts will be made on a war footing to implement our power vision,” he said, adding that for this purpose, the federal government has formed an internal partnership with provincial governments, since both need to play important roles in the realisation of the power sector vision.
Gilani said that partnerships with multilateral financial institutions would also be formed and that the Foreign Ministry would help secure the support needed from bilateral partners.
The PM said the power crisis had badly affected the country’s industry and slowed the pace of economic growth. “The development of the power sector is on the top of the agenda of the present government, as this plays a key role in the development and growth of a country’s economy,” Gilani said, adding that the government believes in expediting sustained economic growth through enhanced direct investment for industrial and infrastructure development and safeguarding the interests of the common citizens to improve their standard of living.
Justifying power generation through rental power projects (RPP), Gilani said RPPs had been set up to meet the country’s short-term and emergency requirements, as the plants can be commissioned within a short period of time.
“It was the PPP government’s initiative in the 90s that brought forward private generation through independent power producers (IPPs),” he said, regretting the subsequent scathing reaction that was aimed at making the masses believe that all investment in this context would be detrimental for the country.
“Today, after more than a decade, the IPPs have established credibility and have become successful partners to the government in power generation,” the PM said, adding the resolve to take electricity to every nook and corner of the country had necessitated the adoption of a multi-pronged strategy.
“The strategy is aimed at capacity enhancement through building new power generation plants on the one hand and the upgradation of the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure on the other,” Gilani said, adding that the government had already announced a lucrative framework to attract investment in the energy sector. “We are providing full support to encourage local and foreign power generation companies to invest in this sector,” Gilani said. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk