Eight months after taking office, the federal administration has made little progress toward restarting the 20 power plants that have been shut down because of a lack of fuel, technical problems, and license-related concerns.
The 20 500MW-capable power plants have been shut down ever since the PDM coalition government, which the Sharif administration was a part of, first took office. Despite the fact that the nation is currently experiencing a severe energy deficit that has been ongoing for several months, sources in the power sector have told Profit that the government has made virtually little effort to resume electricity generation in the 20 power plants.
The prime minister was informed of at least 27 power plants with a total generation capacity of more than 7,000 megawatts that were not operating because of technical issues or fuel shortages four days after taking office.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who has also held the petroleum portfolio, noted in this meeting from back in April that there was a complete lack of coordination between the petroleum and power divisions of the energy ministry and that the issue should be dealt with right away on a priority rather than wasting time in the finger-pointing.
Despite these initial commitments, there is a perception in the electricity industry that the problem has not received the necessary attention. According to the sources, the lack of RLNG allocation at the 1041 MW Rousch power plant and the high fuel costs at the Port Qasim power plant are the key reasons why the latter hasn’t been able to produce any energy.
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