KARACHI: Following the Federal Cabinet's approval of moratorium on gas supply to industrial units for self-generation of electricity, K-Electric (KE) continues to remain fully committed to facilitating Karachi's industrial customers in line with the Ministry of Energy's (Power Division) direction to expedite fresh electricity connections and improve power supplies.
KE is closely engaged with the industrial associations and customers, through dedicated contact points to assess their needs and has collated accurate power demands of the sector. Based on this, a comprehensive roadmap has been developed to enable the shift of captive industrial electricity demand to the power grid in the swiftest way possible. Industries where KE metering points already exist will be prioritized for load-enhancement while concurrently the power utility will be establishing industrial helpdesks to ease new connection applications for those industries where electricity metering points are yet to be installed.
Reaffirming KE's will and ability to serve the captive industrial demand, KE CEO Moonis Alvi stated, "Based on the survey conducted by our team with industry support, we have estimated that up to 300 MW energy demand can shift from captive to the power grid in the near-term and KE is fully prepared to progressively serve this demand. In fact, we have already begun to process the applications that we have been receiving over the past few days. In addition, around 600 MW of power demand is expected to shift to the power grid by December 31st, 2021, following completion of the New Connection process and requisite enhancement of power equipment. Based on requirements, the power utility will undertake grid, substation and associated equipment installations and augmentations as a pre-requisite for serving energy demand. We are confident that we shall meet the December 2021 timelines set by the GoP and look forward to expeditious support for land and construction permits and Right of Way (RoW) approvals from city administration in this regard.
It is important to highlight that the shift of captive power demand to the grid is a pivotal development and we request the support of all our stakeholders including SSGC, GoP, CPPA and NTDC in the timely conclusion of on-going discussions around fuel commitments, power availability from the national grid and the connection of KE's natural gas transmission pipeline for its 900 MW BQPS-III power plant to the tie-in Point, SSGC Custody Transfer Station, as these underpin reliable supply of electricity and are critical to ensuring Karachi's power security."
Since privatization, KE has invested over Rs330 billion in upgrading Karachi's power infrastructure across the generation, transmission and distribution verticals. Compared to 2005, over 75 percent of Karachi is now load-shed free, underpinned by almost doubled transmission and distribution capability and generation capacity which has improved by around 1,400 MW through both self-generation and power purchase agreements. With KE's flagship 900 MW RLNG-fired power plant and new power grids expected to come on-stream in 2021 and work progressing swiftly on interconnection capability to draw up to 450 MW of additional electricity from the national grid through existing interconnections, the power utility remains committed to serving the enhanced industrial demand through expedited investments and infrastructure upgrades.
KE has always prioritized services to Karachi's manufacturing sector, fully realizing their vital contribution to the national economy; the power utility was Pakistan's first Distribution Company to exempt industrial zones from scheduled load-shed and KE's efforts to ease access to energy under the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business framework, resulted in Pakistan being acknowledged as one of the world's top six business climate improvers and moved up the country's global rankings for investment friendliness.-PR
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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