Briefing media persons at his office on Thursday, the Hubco chief said that the need of the hour was to minimise dependence on foreign oil. He also emphasised the need for looking towards investments in indigenous resources like coal and hydro which could help build our local energy economy. "Creating this energy economy is not only a stopgap measure to meet the challenges, but also an opportunity that can be seized and cultivated to deliver long-term socio-economic benefits for the country and its citizens," he said.
Globally, the percentage of energy production through coal out of the total energy mix is approximately 41pc but in the case of Pakistan it stood at a massive low of 0.1pc.
He said that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are in severe liquidity crisis owing to the alarming level of circular debt and power purchaser's default on its contractual agreement. WAPDA's payment default has resulted in severe effects on the financial viability of the power plants and has affected the sustainability of the operations. Claiming that the IPPs are on the verge of collapse, he said that Wapda and NTDC currently owed Rs 220 billion to the IPPs against the overdue invoices for electricity purchased and received on the national grid.
He said that contrary to the power purchase agreement, Wapda has released a meager amount or in some cases absolutely no payments to the IPPs over the past few months. Claiming that the IPPs having most modern machines are producing much more electricity with same fuel compared to public sector. At present, IPPs contributed more than 50pc requirement of Pakistan's energy supply.
Mansoor said that maintenance of two boilers of Hubco had been carried out at an estimated cost of $20 million whereas the other two boilers would also undergo the maintenance process in October and November this year. Pointing out that Chinese investors are evincing keen interest in power projects in Pakistan, he said: "We are currently negotiating with different potential investors and sharing our feasibility with them. The initial plan to have a 660 MW coal-based power plant could be backed up with another 660 MW plant if investors are confident to invest further.
Speaking of Hubco's growth initiatives, he said that the company has signed an agreement to invest $20 million in Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company Limited for the development of Thar resources. Hubco is also working on developing an imported coal-based project of up to 660 MW at its Hub site, he added. The Hubco chief said that the company wanted to convert its existing RFO based 1,292 MW Hub power plant to coal but in the absence of clear-cut policy guidelines on coal conversion, the Company's Board has decided to keep the conversion on hold and gave go-ahead for setting up a new coal-based power plant.