State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali said on Wednesday that 8,000 to 10,000 megawatt electricity would be added to national grid by 2018 which would help control electricity crisis in the country.
Talking to the media persons at Multan Tea House, he said that electricity generation would reach 18,000 megawatts during August 2016 which would surely help reducing load shedding hours significantly.
Maximum relief would be given to consumers regarding load shedding in the coming Ramazan, he added.
About work on different electricity generation projects, Abid Sher informed that three wind powered projects including Haveeli Bahadar Shah, Mithi and Balloki would start generating 2,200 megawatt electricity by June 2017.
At least two coal power projects including Sahiwal and Kot Qasim would generate 1,240 megawatt electricity by June 2017 and January 2018, respectively, he said, and added the work on both the power projects was in progress with a brisk pace which would be completed within 28 months.
However, time duration for completion of such projects was 40 months internationally, he added. There were some other projects – Piran Ghaib, Faisalabad, Nawab Shah, Araen Road, Sakhar and Shiekhupura – which would be run on RLNG and they would produce 1,000 megawatt electricity, he said.
Single circle of these projects would start generation from 2017 and combine circle from January 2018, the minister said.
Similarly, Tarbela Section-4 would also start generating 1,500 megawatt by December 2017, Abid said.
About Dasu Dam project, he maintained that work on this 4,200 megawatt project would be started from September 2016, adding that 80 per cent work related to land acquisition had been completed. About the work on transmission lines, he observed that main transmission line from Mityari to Lahore would be completed within one and a half years.
Transmission line from Kot Qasim to Faisalabad would be completed during second phase, he added.
The state minister said that there was zero load shedding for industry, four hours for power loom sector, six hours for urban areas and eight hours load shedding for rural areas. He claimed that the department was working purely on merit as electricity connections to different parliamentarians and an SP House had been disconnected due to payments default.
Nearly 95 per cent work on pictorial metre reading process had been completed in MEPCO region and hoped that consumers would get bills with pictorial display from next month. The ministry was also spending Rs 1.65 billion on improvement of grid stations, transmission lines and other schemes in MEPCO region, he alleged.
To a query about Panama leaks, Abid Sher said it was first time in the country’s history that a prime minister had presented himself for accountability and their opponent might appear before the judicial commission. He further observed that masses had rejected politics of Imran Khan.