ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday emphasized that pro-active planning should be exercised regarding power supply and demand.
While presiding over a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) in Islamabad, the prime minister said that it is very unfortunate that planning by relevant authorities is undertaken without inculcating important contingency factors that could not be ruled out.
The prime minister directed the Ministry of Water & Power to undertake power supply and demand analysis till the year 2023 so as to undertake integrated long-term planning with regard to fulfilling energy requirements of the country over the foreseeable future.
Nawaz Sharif also directed to work out shifting of scheduled outages of power plants on account of repairs and maintenance from summer season to winter season so that maximum power is provided when most required during months of peak power demand.
The Secretary Water & Power Division briefed the meeting on progress of decisions made in the previous meeting including working of the inter-ministerial committee of Finance, Water & Power and Petroleum & Natural Resources ministries, power supply and demand analysis till September 2018 and utilization of idle power plants.
The CCE unanimously approved that no power shutdowns be carried out on account of development works during Ramazan. It was also decided that factors including increase in use of electric appliances due to economic prosperity and behavioral patterns of power consumers be included in the estimation of projected power demands.
The CCE also accorded in-principle approval for establishment of a new LNG based 1,200 MW capacity power plant.
Minister for Finance Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water & Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Planning & Development Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Chief Minister Punjab Mr. Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and other senior officials attended the meeting.
