Senate Standing Committee on Power addresses critical issues in Pakistan’s energy sector

ISLAMABAD, July 12 (SABAH): Senator Mohsin Aziz presided over a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Power at the parliament house on Friday.

The Chairman of the committee welcomed the members and appreciated the presence of the Minister for Power and the Secretary of Power. He assured that key issues of the power sector would remain the focus of the committee, emphasizing its national and public importance.

The Secretary (Power Division) briefed the committee on the overall governance structure of the Power Division and its administrative machinery. The committee members were of the view that the briefing should address the real issues facing the power sector. The Chairman emphasized the need for a holistic approach to the power sector.

Senator Shibli Faraz questioned the non-appointment of the MD ((National Transmission & Despatch Company) to which the Minister assured that the MD would be appointed within one month. The Minister acknowledged structural issues within NTDC and stated that the government is working on the overall restructuring of the power sector.

The Chairman of the committee questioned the Sahiwal Coal Power Project, which has been established on imported coal, noting the impracticality of such projects operationally and environmentally. The Secretary (Power Division) explained that projects are installed based on load centers.

The Secretary Power provided a comprehensive overview of installed vs. operational capacity, adding that capacity discounted for permissible and forced outages amounted to 32,576 MW, capacity discounted for seasonal and daily variation amounted to 28,736 MW, and effective operational capacity amounted to 22,879 MW.

Officials from the Ministry of Power (Energy Division), while reporting on the transition to indigenous green energy informed that four plants—Jamshoro, Sahiwal, Port Qasim, and Hub—utilized imported coal. The Minister of Energy (Power Division) added that due to the lack of availability of Thar coal and local fuels, an alternative method for electricity production was required, and the depreciating rupee and other factors significantly influenced their decision to use imported coal.

Additionally, the Ministry presented a detailed summary of completed development projects in the NTDC network from 2012 to date, along with a briefing on power generation projects, alternative renewable energy projects, and transmission line projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Furthermore, details of implementation agreements (IAs) signed by PPIB with commissioned IPPs were also shared with the committee members. The session featured the participation of Senator Haji Hidayatullah Khan, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, Senator Kazim Ali Shah, Senator Taj Haider, Senator Mir Dostain Khan Domki, Senator Muhammad Qasim, Senator Muhammad Aslam Abro, the Minister for Energy (Power Division), the Secretary (Power Division), and senior officials from the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and NTDC (National Transmission & Despatch Company).

In the end, the Minister of Power requested that the committee formulate specific questions to be sent to the Ministry for specific replies. The committee agreed to have detailed discussions on circular debt, line losses, electricity theft, structural issues of the power sector, and the detailed terms and conditions of IPP agreements with track changes. The committee members also agreed to invite CEOs of three DISCOs on a rotational basis for briefings.

The Minister assured that copies of the agreements with IPPs would be provided to the committee for their perusal.