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Load-shedding up to 14 hours : ‘25% textile orders cancelled, 25% small enterprises face closure’

Staff Report

KARACHI: Load shedding in the city has peaked at 14 hours but the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) claims there has been only eight hours of power outage, divided in 4 cycles in 24 hours.

Five units of the Bin Qasim Power Station have been operational but the maximum generation capacity has gone down from 1260 MW to merely 825 MW. The first unit is out of service, depriving the city of 180 MW out of its potential 210 MW, he added.

Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) sources told Daily Times that power supply to KESC was suspended when KANUPP tripped due to high power fluctuations in the transmission lines at 11:25 a.m. Engineers struggled to fix the problem by shifting the load to a local KANUPP system, but the plant finally tripped at 11:55 a.m.

The utility stands to lose 80 MW on Sunday. No concrete efforts have been made to fix the Korangi Thermal Power Station (KTPS), which could add 70 MW. The utility is waiting for Japanese engineers to come and fix the faults. Continuous operation of the KANUPP and KTPS would assure a 150-MW supply, decreasing the duration of load shedding. No serious efforts have been made to sign contracts with foreign power firms as the utility keeps claiming, said KESC sources.

A KESC general manager who chose to remain anonymous told Daily Times that the power demand on Saturday remained at 2,200 MW while total supply was 1,600 MW, a shortage of 600 MW. On Sunday, there was a demand of 2,100 MW since shops were closed, decreasing load shedding. There is still a supply of 400 MW from WAPDA, which, if disconnected, would increase the gap between supply and demand to between 700 and 900 MW. The DHA plant has been supplying 80 MW, while Tapal and Gul Ahmed have been supplying 120 MW each.

Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and leading textile businessman, Haroon Farooki told Daily Times that the power crisis has caused upto 25 percent of small businessmen to shut their business down because the combined attack of load shedding and the increase in fuel prices is more than they can bear. He said that the textile sector is under serious threat of financial crisis as there are more than 25 percent of foreign orders have been cancelled so far. The level of damage to industrialists and businessmen cannot be calculated because the moral degradation after cancellation of international orders is large and cannot be quantified.

The April 1 deadline for KESC’s payment of Rs 2.5 billion to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is fast approaching and it does not look like this payment can be made. Farooki commented that PEPCO president blatantly said that power would not be bought or sold without money.

“The business community has suffered a lot and the only solution for overcoming the ongoing power crisis is for the government to install more power plants. The Prime Minister has assured that a 2,200-MW plant would be installed soon, so if the business community is willing to be patient, we are sure that the PM will fulfill his promises,” said Karachi Electronics Dealers Association General Secretary Faisal Raza Abdi.

Shopkeepers at the major markets in the city, including Saddar, Barakat Hyderi, Zamzama and Jodia Bazar, industrial areas, including SITE, New Karachi and Korangi, and the cottage industry are facing colossal damages. Electronics merchant Sattar told Daily Times that the power outages could be overcome by using uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems but these need to be recharged. The customers have vanished from markets at peak hours at night so the financial crisis is escalating and the workers fear they will lose their jobs.

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