ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has sought the help of Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood for electricity connections pending with power Distribution Companies (Discos) as most of the mills are unable to meet their energy needs.
Updating on its meeting on gas/RLNG/power issues last week, APTMA had meetings with the Power Division on December 9/10 2021 where the CEOs of LESCO, FESCO, PESCO,IESCO, GEPCO & MEPCO were also present. According to the letter written by APTMA, the industry has expanded rapidly during the last year due to enhanced competitiveness which is a consequence of regionally competitive tariffs policy being implemented by the government and the uninterrupted supply of gas/RLNG and power to the industry.
The Association said that most mills at present cannot fulfil the energy needs for power or gas alone and require both to function at full capacity. Furthermore, approximately 80 percent of the gas/RLNG “Captive” plants are cogeneration and use the steam & hot water in the production process. These mills do not have alternate sources of steam and hot water and cannot generate these from electricity if supply of gas/RLNG is suspended to the industry during this winter and will close down as a result.
APTMA maintains that the current momentum of exports will be lost leading to disastrous consequences which will be long lasting as export orders lost will lead to the buying houses sourcing these from other countries on a “permanent” basis.
As far as switching the gas/RNG based captive plants to electricity is concerned, the issues in enhancement of load, new connections and quality of supply at present seem to be intransigent and not resolvable in the short term.
APTMA maintained that total 96 EOL/new connection cases of member mills are pending with Discos. Amongst these, there were 40 EOL new connection cases of Lesco, 27 cases of Fesco, 24 cases of Mepco and two cases of Iesco, two cases of Gepco and one case of Pesco. Out of these 96 cases, 26 cases are of those industries which have applied to Discos and are desirous of utilizing more than 5MW of power, but their applications are lying pending as reportedly NEPRA has not notified tariff for such consumers yet.
Additionally, APTMA reported total 73 cases of member mills to Power Division and Discos with serious power supply quality issues. Interruption’s report of each mill was duly shared for reference and further necessary action. Out of these 73 cases, 42 cases related to power supply quality issues of Lesco, 16 related to Mepco, nine cases of Fesco, four cases of Iesco and two cases of Gepco.
APTMA further stated that power supply quality to textile industry is largely compromised and thus of serious concern for the textile sector as modern textile machinery involves sensitive electronic equipment/machinery and requires standard power supply without interruptions at all time.
“Unwarranted interruptions, inordinate break downs, fluctuating voltage and flicker have resulted in huge production and financial losses of hundreds of millions to members. This inhibits use of power for textile operations.
Power requirement of textile industry was 660MW-350MW is currently utilized and additional 300MW is on account of ongoing BMR and expansion initiatives of industries,” it was stated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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