ISLAMABAD
\nThe federal government on Saturday rejected a report claiming that the Centre had scrapped the power-generation component of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, terming it \u201cfake news\u201d.
\nIn a statement shared on social media, the power division clarified that the generation component of the Diamer-Basha Dam remains a committed project in both the existing and future Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) documents.
\nThe clarification comes amid the report over the future status of the project\u2019s power generation component. The power division emphasised that the component continues to be included in the country\u2019s long-term power generation planning.
\n\u201cFurthermore, for absolute clarity, the new [independent power producers] IPPs business has permanently closed in Pakistan after the establishment of a free electricity market by the present government,\u201d the power division added.
\nIt said that any attempt to link IPPs with this project and sensationalise it is based on nothing but fake assumptions.
\nEarlier, Brief claimed that the government had decided to scrap the dam\u2019s 4,500-megawatt power generation component. The report cited an alleged \u201cleaked internal document\u201d from the Economic Affairs Division dating back to earlier this year and, quoting a source directly familiar with the decision-making process, said the decision came after \u201clobbying\u201d by IPPs.
\nAccording to the report, this would effectively preserve an established electricity market structure in which entrenched power suppliers continue to receive substantial payments even when their plants generate little or no electricity.
\nThe report said the government\u2019s publicly stated reason for dropping the generation component was that Pakistan already has excess power generation capacity. At the same time, the government\u2019s fallback position is reportedly that the 4,500-megawatt hydropower complex could be constructed at an unspecified later stage, while the Diamer-Bhasha Dam could initially be developed mainly as a water-storage reservoir.
\nHowever, that promise may be a political trick intended to cushion the impact of the decision, it added.
\nThe report claimed that hydropower engineers have warned that delaying the installation of critical infrastructure could create serious technical and financial difficulties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The federal government on Saturday rejected a report claiming that the Centre had scrapped the power-generation component of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, terming it \u201cfake news\u201d. In a statement shared on social media, the power division clarified that the generation component of the Diamer-Basha Dam remains a committed project in both the existing and future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"\n