- PM Nawaz stresses pro-active planning for power supply, demand
- Power Ministry directed to undertake supply, demand analysis upto 2023
The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday unanimously approved no power shutdowns on account of development works during the Islamic month of Ramazan.
The prime minister stressed pro-active planning regarding power supply and demand, terming unfortunate the planning by relevant authorities ignoring important contingency factors. He directed the Ministry of Water and Power to undertake power supply and demand analysis upto year 2023 so as to undertake integrated long-term planning about fulfilling energy requirements.
He also directed to work out shifting of scheduled outages of power plants in view of repairs and maintenance from summer to winter to ensure maximum power supply. The Water and Power secretary briefed the meeting on progress of decisions made in the previous meetings including working of the inter-ministerial committee, power supply and demand analysis till September 2018 and utilisation of idle power plants.
NEW POWER PLANT: It was also decided that factors including an increase in the use of electric appliances due to economic prosperity and behavioural patterns of power consumers be included in the estimation of projected power demands. The CCE also accorded in-principle approval for the establishment of a new LNG-based 1,200 megawatts capacity power plant.
Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and other senior officials attended the meeting.
