Loadshedding will be eliminated for all times to come, says PM Nawaz Sharif

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that a significant addition of power to the national grid with the completion of ongoing projects will eliminate loadshedding in Pakistan for all times to come. He was chairing a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Energy at the PM House on Tuesday. “Never in the history of the country such a huge investment has been made in the energy sector. The government is not only working to meet the shortfall the energy, but is also catering for the future energy needs of the Pakistan,” he said. The prime minister said that increased power generation would also contribute to economic growth, employment generation, increased industrial activity and foreign investment. He said that he would personally monitor the progress on ongoing power projects across the country and will also perform onsite visits of all power projects to ensure their timely completion. Federal Secretary Water and Power Younus Dagha gave a detailed briefing on the timeline of the completion of the ongoing power projects. The prime minister was briefed that the power projects will be completed before March 2018. The projects that would be completed between the given timeline will include; three LNG power plants (Bhikki, Haveli-Bahadur, Baloki (3600 MW), Chashma 3 & 4 Nuclear (340) MW each, Guddu Gas (400) + MW, Nandipur Gas 100 + MW, Sahiwal Coal ( 1320 MW), Various Wind/Bagasse (350 )MW, Patrind HPP Hydel (147 )MW, Faisalabad Gas (250 MW), Neelum Jhelum (969 MW) and Tarbella 4 Extension (1410 MW) and Port Qasim Power Plant (1320 MW). The meeting was assured total of 11,131 megawatts will be made available to the National Grid by the March of 2018. The meeting was also briefed that all transmission line projects are on track to evacuate ongoing power projects, and billions of rupees have been invested in the existing distribution network to bear the load of additionally generated power through completion of ongoing power projects. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and senior officials.