Karachi’s load shedding situation to improve in 48 hours, assures KE

K-Electric Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Moonis Alvi has said that the ongoing electricity crisis in Karachi, will ease down in 48 hours.

Talking to media CEO KE Alvi said that the authorities have assured him that KE will be provided furnace oil from some Independent Power Producers (IPP) and the situation will normalize. “From the start of June, we were facing issues regarding the supply of furnace oil, and there were many reasons to it, as we can see there is a shortage of petroleum in the country, as the production of oil refineries declined due to coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

He said that the KE has not received in its gas supply of 300mmcf of gas from SNGPL Karak gas fields for the past week or so. “This has caused a shortfall in their system as well,” he said. K-Electric, the chief power provider in the city has blamed the reduction in furnace oil and gas for affecting production capacity.

Earlier, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) took notice of the news appearing in media regarding excessive/un-announced load shedding by KE in Karachi.

The regulator said that it has come to the knowledge of the Authority through media reports that "inflated" electricity bills are being charged to the consumers of K-Electric. In this regard, strict directions have been given to the K-Electric to take remedial measures and submit a detailed report to Nepra immediately.

FEDERAL GOVT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL POWER TO KE

Amid reports of unannounced load shedding in the city of Karachi, the federal government has announced that it is ready to provide additional 500 MW from the National Grid.

A spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy said that the federal government is providing 800MW electricity to KE and is ready to provide an additional 500 MW from National Grid but the KE system physical constraints are a major hurdle in taking the additional electricity.

The spokesperson was of the view that it clearly indicates that system up-gradation on part of KE has not taken place at the appropriate level and with appropriate investment. The supply of LNG is available but on account of Article 158, only a limited quantity of LNG is being taken by KE. SSGC is providing a total of 250 - 290 MMCFD of gas including 75-100mmcfd of LNG.

Meanwhile, the Petroleum Division has made arrangements for the supply of 80 percent of Pakistan domestic RFO production to KE to run its power plants. In addition, the Federal Government has also made the arrangement for a supply of 30,000 tons of RFO from the storage of other power plants to immediately fulfill requirements of KE.

The spokesperson added that the Federal Cabinet has also allowed for Pakistan State Oil to float a Gallop International Tender to purchase RFO for KE, which has already been published. The Federal Cabinet also approved provision and allocation of 150 mmcfd of LNG for new power plants of KE, the construction of which will be completed by KE by next year in 2021.