The K-Electric expresses its gratitude to the Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shahzad Qasim for their time and support during this unprecedented situation at the meeting arranged at the direction of the Honourable Prime Minister Imran Khan. The K-Electric delegation, led by CEO, Moonis Abdullah Alvi, apprised the Government representatives about the power supply related challenges that the company had been facing on account of erratic fuel supplies to KE and associated IPPs as well as inconsistent power supplies from KANNUP and the wind corridor. He further highlighted that keeping in view the demand and supply situation, the power utility had planned ambitious investments which would see USD 2.0 billion spent on Karachi’s power value chain, aimed to eliminate the power deficit in Karachi. Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar also assured that present Government of Pakistan is committed to resolving all these issues on priority. He stressed that it was critical to resolve Karachi’s power supply issues on a fast-tracked basis and that the Federal Government would diligently support the people of Karachi through prioritized supply of local FO and Gas at sufficient pressure which would allow KE to operate its plants at full capacity. This would be reinforced by expedited imports of Furnace Oil that are already underway after the due approvals from the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE). Minister also directed the National Transmission and Distribution Company (NTDC) to make necessary upgrades to its interconnections which would allow approximately 300MW or more additional power supply from the national grid as early as next year. The Government assured KE of their all-out support regarding approvals required to build interconnections to take additional power supply from the NTDC, for which NEPRA approval and contractual modalities were still pending. At the same time, the Minister stressed that K-Electric needed to reach out to its consumers and make sure that their complaints/grievances are resolved on priority. The K-Electric management shared the company’s investment roadmap in two phases, one of which will come online before summer 2021. Moonis Alvi also presented options available for increase in power supply to bridge the demand and supply gap next year. Moonis Abdullah Alvi CEO K-Electric also shared that following the CCOE approval last month to supply 1400 MW additional electricity through the National Grid for which KE has already initiated work on building the required interconnections with a view to fast-tracking power evacuation as early as 2023. Moonis Abdullah Alvi CEO K-Electric appreciated the Government of Pakistan delegation, and Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub Khan, for their unconditional support which would enable K-Electric to maximise its power supply and ensure that exempted customer categories including industries and residential customers are relieved from load-management.
KE officials apprise govt team about power supply-related issues
