ISLAMABAD: According to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, structural changes are being made to the power industry to increase productivity and enhance service quality.
The minister stated that the reforms included reconstituting the boards of directors of discos by adding professionals from the private sector and lowering the number of government nominees in order to increase the boards’ efficiency and enhance overall service delivery during a meeting with the K-Electric delegation on Tuesday.
The KE team presented their seven-year plan, which calls for extra power generation of 2,172 MW by 2030 and includes future investments in transmission and distribution.
KE discusses plans to lower tariffs for Karachi residents.
During the discussion, the delegation, led by Mark Skelton, chairman of the KE board of directors, also spoke about pending liabilities.
Initially, the KE team traveled to Islamabad to meet with Energy Minister Awais Laghari to talk about their concerns.
According to a reliable source who spoke with Dawn, the seven-year plan will incorporate 1,182MW of renewable energy in its generation mix, which will help Karachi’s electricity costs come down.
The minister restated the government’s commitment to guaranteeing private sector involvement in all Gencos and Discos that are owned by the government. In keeping with the prime minister’s goal of empowering and facilitating the private sector to drive the economy, he brought up the beginning of the privatization of three discos.
The minister was informed by the KE team on its plans to incorporate renewable energy into its generation mix as well as other efforts aimed at enhancing service delivery to Karachi residents.
The minister also praised KE’s investment plans to grow its energy and distribution business and pledged full support for its attempts to switch to renewable energy sources and generate more inexpensive, accessible electricity using domestic resources.
By 2030, renewable energy sources will account for thirty percent of the total power fleet, according to this aim. By 2030, there will be 5 million customers, up from 3.5 million, a 30 percent increase. Concurrently, KE will reduce outage frequency and duration by 30 percent, requiring a substantial increase in infrastructure spending.
