SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Hardly between 15 and 20 megawatts of electricity is being generated at the Lakhra power station which has the installed capacity of 150 megawatts, Sindh Energy Minister Murad Ali Shah has told Sindh Assembly members.
He was responding to a question raised by Muttahida Qaumi Movement legislator Mohammed Hussain during the Question Hour that pertained to the energy department during the Sindh Assembly session on Thursday that was chaired by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and started around 50 minutes behind its scheduled time of 10am mentioned in the order of the day.
Mr Shah said that three power generation units each having the installed capacity of 50MW had been installed at Lakhra but two of these had been shut down and the third one, which was being operated by cannibalising the shutdown units, generated between 15 and 20MWs, whenever it became operational.
‘No western country is interested in Thar coal project’
He said that the Sindh government planned to cancel the lease of Lakhra coal mines given to the power station, which belonged to the federal government and set up a bigger power station under its public-private partnership policy.
Responding to a question asked by MQM legislator Heer Soho regarding slow progress on the Thar coal related power generation projects, the minister said that because of environmental concerns, no Western country was showing any interest in Thar coal; however, China had shown some interest and negotiation were under way with China in this connection. The government was encouraging private investors to install power stations on the public-private partnership basis.
Responding to another of her question regarding the power generation project using Thar coal gas, the minister said that it was a federal government project costing around Rs9.8 billion and so far around Rs1.6 billion had been spent and initially between eight and 10 megawatts were to be generated by Dec 2014, however the date was extended.
Replying to another of her question, the minister said that the government was also planning to lay a railway line from Islamkot to Keti Bunder, where a port would be constructed, to transport the Thar coal there and then export it. A power generation plant was also under consideration in Keti Bunder, which could first use the imported coal and then shift to Thar coal, when it was available.
He did not agree with MQM legislator Poonjo Bheel, who had raised the issue of relocation of people, majority of whom belonged to minority communities, due to Thar coal related projects and said that the natives had rights on local resources and first they would be compensated then they would be relocated and then projects would be initiated.
Responding to similar questions regarding generation and distribution of electricity from Jhimpir wind power projects by opposition leader Shaharyar Mahar and MQM legislator Khalid Ahmed, the minister said that two projects were producing electricity and supplying it to the national grid, which distributed it nationwide. A third project was being set up. He said that a few other wind power projects for the area were also in the pipeline.
Responding to a question asked by Ms Soho as to why the Sindh government had increased its shareholding in the Thar power project, the minister said that sovereign guarantees were required to obtain loans for the project.
He said that the federal government had agreed to give the guarantee but wanted that the Sindh government have a majority shareholding so the shareholding was increased. Now the federal government would provide the guarantee soon.
Responding to another question by Khalid Ahmed regarding hydropower projects, the minister said that the province because of its topography had the potential to generate between 200 and 250 megawatts from water and the government had already issued letters of intent for two such projects — one of 10 megawatts on the Rohri canal and another one of 15 megawatts on the Nara Canal.
100MW plant for Karachi
Replying to a question by MQM legislator Dewan Chand Chawla regarding electricity for Karachi, the minister said that the government planned to set up a 100MW power generation station near Nooriabad soon and the electricity from which would be provided to the provincial capital.
Answering a question regarding power distribution companies, the minister agreed that power distribution was provincial subject, but added that two power distributions companies operating in the province had huge arrears. He said that the Sindh government would first want to sort out the issue of arrears before taking over these companies from the federal government.
As soon as Speaker Durrani announced the beginning of the question hour several legislators, including Mohammad Hussain, Shaharyar Mahar, Nusrat Sahar Abbasi of Pakistan Mulsim League-Functional, Sorath Thebo of PML-N, pointed out that their short notice questions submitted during previous session and relating to local government department, assembly secretariat, etc, had not yet been responded to. The Speaker asked LG Minister Sharjeel Memon and the assembly secretary to sort out the issue.
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