Islamabad- The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) revealed in its report that the persistent clectricity crisis is unexpected to end by year 2020 when the country will face a shortfall of 1200 megawatts in 2020,
The State of Industry report said the country will face a shortfall of 1200 megawatts in 2020, an estimate that has come despite repeated claims by the government of successfully countering the power shortage, by the end of the decade.
It divulged that power outages remained a major issue, despite the government’s payment of Rs480 billion to independent power producers, generation companies and fuel suppliers to pay off circular debt. K-Electric will face a power shortage of 1132 megawatts in 2016, the report adds. It further discloses that NEPRA has advised against burdening consumers with a hefty Rs136bn to pay off loans.
It added the average duration of load shedding remained two to 18 hours per day last year. However, it added that the average duration of power outage in Bahria Town was recorded, as just one hour per day.
It said that NEPRA had taken steps regarding K-Electric’s tariffs but the Sindh High Court (SHC) had issued a stay order against the decisions. The Council of Common Interest (CCI) had approved a reduction of 300 megawatts in the provision of electricity to K-Electric, but the company had requested the SHC to issue a stay order against CCI’s decision.