Power projects: PPIB approves extension in CoD and LoI deadlines

The Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Friday approved extension in deadlines of Commercial Operation Date (CoD) and Letter of Intent (LoI) of power projects. Presided over by the Minister for Power Division, Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, the Board was informed that the sponsors of three projects have approached PPIB and sought extensions, citing different reasons for not meeting the deadlines. It was the last meeting of Awais Leghari as Minister for Power.
The Board agreed to an extension in CODs of 330 MW Thar Energy Ltd and 330 MW ThalNoa Thar Power Limited both at Thar Block-II. The Minister indicated the need for timely completion and synchronization of the transmission line project with the upcoming generation projects in Karachi and Thar, as evacuation and transmission of electricity from these plants heavily rely on the timely completion of Matiari-Lahore Trans-mission Line project. Extension in LoI was also accorded to 300 MW Coal Power Project at Gwadar.
An official statement quoted Awais A Leghari as saying that the government has removed darkness of load-shedding from the country by completing energy projects in record time and added that process of industrial development will be accelerated and job opportunities created due to overcoming of energy crisis.
He said that along with other stakeholders, PPIB has contributed towards additional generation to the national grid. He said that just five years ago, energy, terrorism and violence were Pakistan''s biggest challenges but "our government has overcome these evils within a brief term of five years and we can see that Pakistan is rising towards becoming a strong economy".
Managing Director Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Shah Jahan Mirza briefed the Board on overall performance of PPIB during the last five years in developing Pakistan''s power sector. Implementation of major portion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy program comprising coal, hydro and transmission line projects was its prime task. PPIB as the leading institution of the GoP, processed these projects diligently.
He further stated that during the past five years PPIB began 23 projects with a cumulative capacity of 17,513 MW, while twelve projects of 11,538 MW have started construction, and nine projects with a cumulative generation of 6920 MW have achieved COD and are supplying reliable electricity to the national grid, bringing total number of IPPs commissioned through PPIB to 15,469 MW. He added that from the current portfolio of projects being processed by PPIB, "we have targeted to add another around 1800 MW to the grid by end of this year."