The nation would face the worst kind of load shedding in the summer this year, with power shortfall already touching 5, 700MW and the duration of load shedding rising to 20 hours a day in remote areas.
A senior official at the Ministry of Water and Power said power generation had reduced to 9,000MW, while the demand stood at 14,700MW. He said if the shortage of fuel supplies to IPPs persisted in the upcoming summer months, the country would witness worst-ever power outages.
“Currently, power generation units are running below their full capacity due to limited furnace oil and gas supplies,” he added. Power generation units in Multan and Faisalabad have already been shut due to gas shortage. The official said it was high time the government evolve a serious strategy to control the power crisis. Suggesting proposals to the government to pull the country out of the current crisis, the official said all dues of the IPPs and the PSO should be paid without further delay.
He warned that if the government did not take concrete steps, the power short fall might increase. Ten power generating units have been closed at Tarbela causing a shortfall of 4,500MW, while the overall power generation has been reduced by 8,000MW. Several IPPs have stopped working due to non-availability of furnace oil. Meanwhile, unannounced load shedding continued in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.