ISLAMABAD: M/s Rousch (Pakistan) Power Limited has sought the federal government’s help in obtaining approvals from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for import of control system to replace existing obsolete system.

The company’s Chief Executive Waqar Ahmad Khan, in a letter to Managing Director PPIB, noted the issue being faced by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in general and “our plant in particular, which will put the life and plant operations at risk if appropriate measures are not taken immediately.”

On July 5, 2022, vide its EPD circular 11, the State Bank of Pakistan (the SBP) advised banks to seek prior approval from its Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FOED) for initiating import transactions against items mentioned in the circular. Majority of spare parts required by Rousch (Pakistan) Power Limited fall under Chapter 84 and 85 of the Customs Tariff and these chapters have been included in the list to the circular. Section 14.4 of the Implementation Agreement (IA) between the Company and the Government of Pakistan through PPIB, promises timely availability of the required foreign exchange for the requirements of the company.

According to the company it intends to replace the obsolete control system (installed in 1999) whose support services, software and hardware is extremely hard to maintain. The company is replacing the old system with the latest control system, through its OEM, Siemens, to ensure reliable operations of the power plant for the remaining life of the project. The installation and commissioning of the new control system shall be carried out during the upcoming Major Maintenance Outage (MMO), scheduled from October 16 to December 6, 2022.

The company is mulling to apply for prior approval to State Bank of Pakistan for the import of the control system, the application for which shall be shared with PPIB. Value of the control system is 2.2 million euros.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022