03-20-2010, 12:50 PM
ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy Crisis (CCEC) was held on Friday under the Chairmanship of the Federal Minister for Water & Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to discuss the current power situation and related matters. The Minister for Water and Power said the government is taking all possible measures to reduce the gap between demand and supply. He said the new IPPs and rental power plants would add to generation, which will shorten the duration of load shedding in peak summer. The committee directed Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to enhance Karachi Electric Supply Company’s (KESC) credit line for supply of 2000 metric tonne furnace oil on daily basis. The CCEC also directed PSO to continue the regular fuel supply to Independent Power Plants (IPPs) and Power Generation Company. KESC was directed to ensure maximum power generation to limit load shedding, while KESC informed the ministry that there was no load shedding for industrial sector in Karachi. MD Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO), Tahir Basharat Cheema gave a detailed briefing to the committee regarding the current power situation and said due to remedial measures, additional power would be injected in the national grid by peak summer after complete rehabilitation of some of the existing thermal power units besides commissioning of some IPPs. staff report