It is quite appreciable that, in line with the federal government, the Punjab government is also making concentrated efforts for the increase of electricity production using hydel, thermal, coal and gas sources by establishing new power plants in different parts of the province.
While first unit of 1320 megawatt coal based Sahiwal power plant is scheduled to commence power production from May 20, the provincial government has also taken another welcome decision to set up gas-based 1200 megawatt power plant. For this purpose, a piece of land is going to be identified near Rahim Yar Khan or Muzaffargarh in South Punjab.
Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who presided over the cabinet meeting which took this important decision, said that like other on-going development projects in the province, gas based power plant will also be completed speedily in transparent manner by working day and night and it will be financed by the provincial government from its own resources. He maintained that the gas based power plant will be environmental friendly as well as cheap.
It is good to note as more and more energy sector projects are nearing completion, it is expected that an additional 5,500 megawatt electricity will be added to the national grid by the end of 2017 while as much as 9,000 megawatt power will be also be added to the national grid not later than March 2018.
Quite obviously the addition of 14,500 megawatt of power in the national grid in less than a year from now will considerably bridge the gap between power supply and demand and bring down electricity load shedding duration to the barest possible if the menace is not totally eliminated as being planned and worked out by the federal and provincial governments quite determinedly. Keep your finger fingers cross and praying for good things continue to happen for prosperity, progress and development of the people of Pakistan with the blessings of Almighty Allah.
M Zee Rifat
Lahore