Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan has stated that the government is determined to meet future energy needs of the country and for this purpose an alternative power policy would be announced in the next two months.
Speaking with media outside Supreme Court, the minister disclosed that at present, the energy and capacity payment trade-off was 60% and 40% respectively. “Institutions have to bear capacity charges because Pakistan is a single-buyer market and it is the government that purchases electricity from power producing companies,” he added.
“To meet needs of the industrial units, the government has to ensure availability of electricity in the system; therefore, it has to pay energy charges to the power producers coupled with capacity costs,” the minister apprised. He elaborated that capacity payments included interest costs and fixed overheads paid to the companies to keep their machinery running for power generation.
He hinted that the component of capacity payment may further increase following installation of more power plants.
Replying to a question, he emphasised that the government was taking effective measures to reduce unemployment through the expansion of the industrial sector.
Published in Daily Times, January 15th 2019.
