Canal closure up to Jan 31 Three-hour power outages from tomorrow

LAHORE, Dec 24: Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) Managing Director Rasul Khan Mehsud said on Friday urban areas would face only three-hour loadshedding and rural areas four to five-hour during the canal closure period (Dec 26 to Jan 31).

Speaking at a press conference, Mehsud said: “Improved hydrology and better oil supplies will make the current canal closure, which starts on Sunday (tomorrow), far less biting.” It may be mentioned here that every year canals are closed for desilting from the last week of December till the end of January and water supplies from dams are squeezed to almost nil. Pepco thus looses hydel contribution (around 5,000MW), which correspondingly increases loadshedding. The Pepco chief said there would be only three to five-hour loadshedding this year, and all of it would be planned and announced in advance.

“The Pepco has cleared Rs27 billion dues of the Pakistan State Oil and arranged another Rs33 billion for it so that oil supplies re main smooth during the winter,” he told the media.

“The company has also ordered both plants of AES (Lalpir and PakGen) back online by the time canal closure starts. Both plants will contribute around 700MW to the national grid. Another 700MW will come from the Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco), which has been running on 500MW ever since floods hit the area. There are other plants, which are about to start production and might chime in with 200MW. Dams have more than four million acre feet more water than last year and the Pepco is hoping to continue getting 2,000MW from dams even during the closure. Thus, the actual shortage will be reduced to around 1,500MW and it will not cause more than three hour loadshedding on urban and four to five-hour on rural feeders,” he said.

He said the company would ensure supplies to the industry during this period and pass the load onto domestic consumers. He said the company was alive to the importance of the industry and would make every effort to ensure supplies to it. “Today company officials spent the entire day calculating supply demand situation and creating space for the industry. Even the federal secretary (ministry of water and power) was here (at company headquarters at Wapda House) to ensure planning for the canal closure period.” Talking about gas supplies, the managing director claimed that it remained a problem for the company. Even on Friday, the company received only 214 million cubic feet (mmcf) against its total requirement of 780mmcf. Naturally, the generation is shifted to expensive furnace oil and company losses skyrocket. “But gas supplies are a matter of policy, and as a power sector manager I can only state the ground realities, and their cost,” he said.

Mehsud assured that distribution companies would make loadshedding schedule public and stick to it at all costs. “The company would not tolerate unannounced and unscheduled loadshedding during the next five weeks of canal closure,” he concluded.