- Senator Mohin Aziz accuses the overexploitation PPI.
- Govt has ended six IPP contracts since July 2024.
- Revised agreements have been signed for 12,000 MW.
Islamabad: The government is working to finalize negotiations with 75 other electricity producers – mainly solar and wind – at the end of April or May after having concluded talks with 29 independent electricity producers (IPP) who would save RS3.498 Billion in future payments, despite the fact of international resistance in some cases, said the Federal Minister of Awais Leghari.
When information of a parliamentary panel, The news Reported, Leghari added that the government was also working on a plan to borrow 1.2 Billion of rupees from commercial banks to manage the circular mounting debt in the electricity sector. The renegotiation of agreements with producers will not only generate savings, but will also help reduce circular debt.
Senator Mohin Aziz, president of the Senate of Power Committee, accused the PPIs of overcoming and criticizing the cost of the swollen project.
“The wind power plants installed between 2012 and 2014 are the real culprits,” he said, accusing high prices for the financial burden of consumers.
Since July 2024, the government has ended six PPI contracts and revised the agreements for eight power plants based on bagasse. However, negotiations with 75 PPIs are still pending. The officials noted that 29 agreements had been finalized, while wind and solar projects remained a major point of collision, because political decision -makers have trouble balanced costs with the confidence of investors.
The Minister of Power, while registering the parliamentary panel, recognized the international resistance to Pakistan’s efforts to renegotiate electricity contracts.
Even foreign diplomats have intervened in this area, he told legislators. Despite this, negotiations progressed with mutual consent, the government hoping to conclude all agreements at the end of April or early May, it informed the panel.
Revised agreements had already been signed for 12,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity, including 14 private power plants with a combined production of 3,200 MW and six public public plants. However, the negotiations for 15,615 MW of power plants belonging to a government have remained unresolved, he said.
The revised solar policy of the government has also been examined, Senator Shibli Faraz questioning its impact on thousands of consumers.
Minister Leghari revealed that Pakistan has 282,000 net consumers of net measurement with a total installed capacity of 4,100 MW. The new policy has not yet been approved by the federal office, as the Prime Minister has ordered an exam to ensure sustainability and equity.
The policy would not affect existing consumers but would present more strict regulations for the new candidates, said the minister.
Faraz criticized the electricity purchase plan with solar consumers at RS10 per unit while selling it to RS50, calling it an unjustified burden for the public. Leghari defended the price, arguing that the capacity costs must be recovered to ensure the stability of the network.