| By Rehan Siddiqui |
 |
KARACHI city’s chronic shortage of electricity will be over by 2011 through increased generation of power, replacement of the outdated transmission and distribution systems and by overcoming the perennial problem of line losses and thefts by unscrupulous consumers.
This assurance was given by S.M.
Amjad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO),
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation
(KESC), in an interview
to the Khaleej Times for
the 14th August special report.
The country’s industrial hub and one of the world’s mega cities, Karachi, has been severely hit by power shortages leading to riots by the angry consumers due to long hours of load shedding specially this summer.
Unhappy with KESC’s performance,
people had been
asking for its privatisation
hoping that the transfer from public to private
sector would improve the deteriorating
power crisis. Eventually the loss-making
organisation was privatised in 2005. Unfortunately,
the much trumpeted privatisation
failed to ease the suffering of the people
forcing the consumers to demand its
re-nationalisation. |
|
Amjad took over as chief executive of cash-strapped and much-maligned KESC on April 5, 2007, after the former German CEO Frank Scherschmidt decided to quit having failed to make any significant difference to improve power supply to the city.
Owing to multiple overriding factors
KESC has been unable to meet the evergrowing power demand of this mega city in recent years. On current demand the city’s generation needs will increase annually by eight per cent.
In 1996 the city needed 1500 megawatts but today its requirement is about 3000 megawatts (inclusive of approximately 600 MW of suppressed demand) during peak hours whereas KESC’s total available generation acquisition through various sources is around 2200-2300 megawatts. This was the reason for the utility provider to resort to load shedding.
Amjad was optimistic that the power shortage would be overcome in next five years through a planned mid and long term strategy and through upgrading the present plants.
To offset the present shortage KESC has started work on installation of two power plants of 780 megawatts for the city to be commissioned in two and half years time. The installation of the two plants will ease power shortages somewhat, stated Amjad.
To cater for immediate requirements, KESC is planning on short term rental aggregating to about 250 MW. For long term relief the utility intends inviting IPPs to set up 1500 MW in the next four years.
The utility provider has also started installing new grid stations in the city besides overhauling all of its existing power plants to achieve maximum generation as well as prevent it from overloading which has been a source of power outages.
He also disclosed that KESC was working on countering line losses and thefts and a plan had been laid out to achieve at least four per cent reduction each year out of the existing losses of around 34 per cent of the total power at its disposal.
Losses through line and thefts amounts to nearly Rs30 billion annually and that too has played a significant part in company’s performance over the years. To reduce losses all Pole Mounted Transformers (PMTs) of the city will be fitted with Automatic Meter Readers (AMT), he said. Amjad admitted that KESC had been a loss-making organisation but was optimistic that with prudent policies and inducting new technology a turnaround was possible in a couple of years.
“I know financially KESC is in a bad shape. However, I do believe that the organisation has the ability and the capability to achieve break-even stage in a couple of years,”, he hoped.
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