Pakistan plans to quadruple domestic coal-fired power, move away from gas

Islamabad

REUTERS

The government plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, the energy minister told Reuters, as Pakistan seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis.

A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into hours of darkness last year. A surge in global prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an onerous economic crisis had made LNG unaffordable for Pakistan.

“LNG is no longer part of the long-term plan,” Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters, adding that the country plans to increase domestic coal-fired power capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW) in the medium-term, from 2.31 GW currently.

The plan to switch to coal to provide the nation reliable electricity un- derscores challenges in drafting effective decarbonisation strategies, at a time when some developing countries are struggling to keep lights on.

Despite power demand increasing in 2022, Pakistan’s annual LNG imports fell to the lowest levels in five years as European buyers elbowed out price-sensitive consumers. “We have some of the world’s most efficient regasified LNG-based power plants. But we don’t have the gas to run them,” Dastgir said in an interview.

The nation, which is battling a wrenching economic crisis and is in dire need of funds, is seeking to reduce the value of its fuel imports and protect itself from geopolitical shocks, he said.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank have fallen to $2.9 billion, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports.

“It’s this question of not just being able to generate energy cheaply, but also with domestic sources, that is very important,” Dastgir said. The Shanghai Electric Thar plant, a 1.32 GW capacity plant that runs on domestic coal and is funded under the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), started producing power last week.

Khan has also banked on his popularity and wide grassroot support to force elections, and has since his ouster staged rallies across the country, calling for the vote.

According to the Constitution, the assembly was automatically disbanded 48 hours after the chief minister called for it to be dissolved. The Constitution also stipulates that elections must be held within 90 days.

Separately, on Tuesday, a petition was filed in the high court asking President Arif Alvi to announce a date for elections in Punjab, citing its order to the election tribunal.

The petitioner has named the federal government, the president, the governor, and the interim government as respondents. The petitioner has also requested that the court order the president to announce the election date under articles 48, 58, and 224 of the Constitution and Section 57 of the Election Act, 2017.

The petitioner is seeking disciplinary action against the governor and the ECP for not following the court order.

Police, Interpol and FIA liaison wing set up to net runaway fugitives: IGP

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman

Anwar on Tuesday said that a liaison wing comprising the Punjab Police, Interpol and FIA, has been established to arrest runaway fugitive, asking all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs to take full coordinated measures with the complainants of cases to arrest the proclaimed offenders in the country and aboard. In his special message for the media representatives, the IG Police said that if any proclaimed offender in any case resides abroad, the complainant should immediately contact the police so that practical steps could be initiated to arrest and bring back the accused. Dr Usman Anwar said that if proclaimed offenders are residing in countries such as the Middle East, South Africa, Europe and America, including the countries with which Pakistan has an agreement, then immediate action will be taken to arrest them and every facility of Interpol will be used to arrest the proclaimed offender immediately. He said that these SOPs and instructions have been issued to all the RPOs, DPOs of the province.