CPEC: The energy component

Energy experts in a roundtable organized by IPS titled “CPEC: The Energy Component” on June 1, 2016 urged the government to persuade China to include financing of Diamer-Basha and Pak-Iran gas pipeline projects under CPEC.

Syed Akhtar Ali, Member Energy, Planning Commission of Pakistan, the main speaker of the roundtable, in his presentation apprised the participants that the 76 per cent share of coal-fired power projects in the mix of CPEC’s energy component – comprising 22 projects worth US$33,793mn – was being reduced. He called for removing misconceptions about coal fired power plants being deployed under CPEC and rejected the notion that obsolete technology was being used in them.

He also claimed that all three short-term energy targets of the present government will be met, which were adding up of 10,000MW electricity in the national grid, increasing 1 to 2 BCFD of natural gas/LNG (25-50 per cent increase) and zero load-shedding by 2018.
The session chair, Mirza Hamid Hasan, member IPS-National Academic Council and former secretary, water and power, in his concluding remarks, said that although coal and LNG projects were providing a quick fix solution to the energy crisis, hydel power should always remain the top preference for Pakistan due to the associated benefits to the national economy, especially water storage and agricultural growth.

A number of energy experts, government officials, industry representatives, academics and journalists participated in the roundtable.