ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reaffirmed his pledge to end load-shedding form the country before completing his government’s mandated term of five years in 2018.
Chairing the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Energy yesterday at Prime Minister’ House, the prime minister said, “Our aim is to provide sufficient as well as cheap electricity to domestic consumers. Wapda needs to work efficiently to overcome the energy shortages in Pakistan.”
The prime minister was given detailed briefing about the progress of the ongoing development projects by Wapda chairman and other concerned officials during the meeting.
The premier said, “We will fulfil our commitment to the nation for eliminating load-shedding before the end of our tenure. Any delays must be analysed and appropriate measures be taken to meet the timelines.” Directing Wapda to expedite building of water reservoirs across the country, the prime minister said that hydel power generation would only be the source of generating affordable and cheap electricity.
He directed the chairman to fast-track the developmental work on the ongoing projects and to further explore the huge hydropower generation potential to benefit the people of the country.
Wapda chairman Lt-Gen (r) Muzammil Hussain briefed the meeting on the status of 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and 1410MW addition in the 3,478MW Tarbela-4 Extension (4888MW after extension).
The chairman apprised the meeting that during his recent site visits appropriate mechanism had been finalised to complete the project as per schedule. After fine tuning the essentials and non-essentials, the first unit of NJHPP will be commissioned in February 2018, while remaining units will be functional subsequently before the summers of 2018, the chairman informed.
Briefing the meeting on Tarbela-4, chairman Wapda said the first unit of Tarbela-4 will be ready for inauguration by the prime minister on 14th August, 2017.
Appreciating the performance of Wapda chairman, the prime minister expressed his satisfaction over the progress on NJHPP as well as Tarbela-4. The prime minister directed for ensuring utmost transparency while executing the hydropower projects.
Secretary Water and Power briefed the meeting on the benchmarks of the ongoing power projects. The ongoing power projects including clean energy projects, coal-fired power plants and LNG power plants will add significant electricity to the national grid during the year 2017 and before March 2018.
The meeting was informed that nine power projects of over 1,000MW including 330MW (Wind) and 680MW (nuclear) are ready for inauguration by the prime minister. It was further informed that the Thar - Matiari and Port Qasim-Matiari Transmission Line projects are also ready for ground-breaking by the prime minister.
The meeting was informed that construction schedule of LNG power plants was on track and LNG-based power plant at Bhikki will be completed well ahead of time. Secretary Water and Power gave a comprehensive analysis of demand and supply of electricity during the summer of 2018 and informed that approximately 3000MW power generation will be surplus by May 2018.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Federal Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and other senior government officials.
Outgoing Morocco envoy calls on PM
Ambassador of Morocco to Pakistan Mustapha Salahdine paid a farewell call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM House yesterday.
While commending the efforts of the outgoing Ambassador in promoting Pak-Morocco bilateral relations during his tenure in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Morocco. The relations between our two countries are underpinned by common faith, historical experiences and cultural similarities, the Prime Minister said.
He also expressed the hope that the valuable work done by the outgoing Ambassador in enhancing cooperation in various fields of mutual interest for the benefit of the two countries will continue in future.
Mustapha Salahdine thanked the Prime Minister for his kind words and said that the warmth and affection he experienced during his tenure in Islamabad is indeed commendable.
The Ambassador lauded the economic turnaround achieved by the present government under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
Mustapha Salahdine said that landmark CPEC and execution of various infrastructure development projects across the country have made Pakistan an ideal destination for foreign investment.