PESHAWAR
Caretaker Provincial Advisor on Energy and Finance Himayatullah Khan has said that the timely completion of ongoing energy projects in the province is our first priority. However, ongoing economic issues in the country are proving to be a major obstacle in the completion of energy projects. Net hydel profit of Rs. 53 billion of province is pending against the federal government.
He expressed these views while presiding over a high-level briefing on the progress of the ongoing energy projects at Provincial Energy Development Organization (PEDO) House here on Tuesday.
In the meeting, Chief Executive Engineer Naeem Khan, giving a briefing, said that under the supervision of PEDO, work is currently underway on 42 energy projects of transmission line including hydro, solar power.
An integrated strategy would be adopted to overcome the difficulties in sale of power and current energy projects including the arrears of the Provincial Energy Development Organization (PEDO).
As PEDO is a profitable organization of the province, which has successfully completed various hydropower projects at a cost of 9 billion rupees and has brought more than 32 billion rupees to the province.
Several projects of PEDO have been entered in the final stages of completion, the completion of which is expected to generate more than 10 billion rupees to the province. The current security situation including closure of letter of credit LCs, increase in taxes in import of machinery for hydropower and solar energy projects is a matter of concern.
PEDO has successfully completed 8 hydropower projects so far, from which a total of 172 megawatts of electricity is being generated. which is earning the province more than 4 billion rupees annually, while work on 6 projects including 84 MW Matiltan Swat, 69 MW Lawi Chitral, 40.8 MW Koto Dir, 11.8 MW Karrora (Shangla), 10.5 MW Chapri Charkhel (Kuram) and 6.5 MW Barando (Torghar ) projects is going on rapidly. Because of these projects a total of 232.8 megawatts of electricity will be generated, which will bring an annual income of more than 10 billion rupees to the province. Most of these projects are in the final stages of completion.
Similarly, 4,400 mosques, 8,000 schools, 187 basic health units projects working on a fast track are going on. The completed solar energy projects are saving the province millions of rupees annually in terms of electricity bills. In the second phase, 291 mini micro-hydro stations are also being constructed in areas deprived of electricity with a total capacity of 41 megawatts of cheap electricity.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PEDO Engineer Naeem Khan, while addressing the Energy Advisor, said that the guidelines given for the development of the energy sector in his first tenure are being implemented and with their cooperation, the efficiency of the PEDO would be further improved.
At the end of the meeting, the Energy Advisor expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the PEDO and said that in some projects, the problems faced with the federation will be resolved on a priority basis at high-level forums, while the wheeling model would be further expanded in the province to promote the industrial sector and stabilize the economy.
