Pakistan Clears Decks to Execute 3,511 Megawatts of Additional Power Projects

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pakistan's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved five new power projects with an investment value of more than $13 billion. The country's Finance Ministry said that funding would be provided. The four power projects will have a combined power-generating capacity of 3,511 megawatts (MW).

Included in the project approval are two 1,110-MW nuclear plants to be built in Karachi, the country's commercial capital, by Chinese companies. They will involve an investment of $9.6 billion and are scheduled to be completed in seven years, with a fast-track objective of five years.

Fossil fuels currently contribute 75% of the country's power feed, which is up from 25% over 15 years. The nuclear projects will help to mitigate reliance on fossil fuels.

The government also will settle debts with independent power producers to the tune of $5 billion, of which $3.2 billion already has been paid. Funds also will be allocated to projects that have been delayed by bureaucratic buck-passing and personality clashes, causing major upward revisions in project cost estimates.

For more information, see May 1, 2013, article - Theft Threatens Survival of Pakistan's Power Sector.

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