The government has decided to shift the headquarters of erstwhile Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) from Lahore to Islamabad with a new nomenclature and fresh roles, but rejected the power division’s request to allow an 88 paisa per unit rise in tariff to meet an annual expenditure of Rs880 million. These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet…
Read More
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to withdraw around Rs300 billion sales tax exemptions to qualify for the next loan tranche of $1 billion, taking the demand for the additional revenue requirements to over Rs525 billion. The tax authorities have shown willingness to take back nearly Rs260 billion sales tax exemptions as a quid pro quo for not…
Read More
China Three Gorges Group (CTG) called on the Pakistani ambassador to China on Friday and showed keen interest in investing in Pakistan’s wind and solar energy sectors. During the meeting, the CTG delegation led by Vice-Presidents Wang Shaofeng and Qin Guobin informed the Ambassador about the current status of its ongoing power projects in Pakistan. They informed that work on…
Read More
A Chinese state company has expressed concerns over the inordinate delay in the launch and completion of the remaining 600-megawatt portion of the 900MW mega solar power project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) due to various issues allegedly on the part of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC). The firm,…
Read More
Talks at the technical level between Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary (IMF) reportedly remained inconclusive on the pace of power sector reforms with the latter reportedly expressing concern over non-implementation of the tariff agreed during the second to fifth review talks held in February 2021. Technical level talks were to conclude on Friday and policy level talks are scheduled…
Read More
he Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) had suspend gas supplies to all the CNG stations and industries across Sindh and Balochistan for 72 hours due to a technical fault. However, domestic and commercial customers had faced no interruption in gas supplies, the sources told. SSGC suffered interruptions of RLNG supplies as the terminal faced difficulties to berth vessel. SSGCL…
Read More
Nearly five years ago while in Kolkata, I interviewed Sanjay Kar Chowdury, a manager at the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. When I asked him about the importance of coal to the Indian electric grid, he did not hesitate. Coal, he told me, “is a lifeline. It is a lifeline of all the thermal power stations. Without coal, you cannot survive…It’s…
Read More
delegation from China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company (CPP) and China Zhenhua Import and Export Company called on Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque at the Embassy on Friday. Led by Qi Huang, General Manager of CPP, and comprising senior executives from China Zhenhua, the delegation discussed their plan to invest in the development of oil and gas sector of…
Read More
In a major step towards private-to-private LNG business in the country, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) met on Friday with Federal Minister for Planning and Special Initiatives Asad Umar and accorded approval to the pipeline capacity of 500-600mmcfd for both new LNG terminal developers — Energas and Tabeer Energy. Under the decision, new LNG terminal developers Tabeer Energy has…
Read More
The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) has been revised under a legal arrangement of being a “Managing Agent”. The role of Pepco, briefly speaking, is to monitor and coordinate the operations of DISCOs. There is a mixed reaction to the revival of Pepco. I am in favour of Pepco’s revival and have been writing about it. We will explain the…
Read More
