Rogue Pak Army decides to start generating own electricity after failing to pay high utility bills

Pak Army cannot pay the same electricity rate as those Bloody Pak civilians


http://epaper.brecorder.com/2019/11/01/20-page/808368-news.html

Pakistan Army has reportedly decided to start generating power for all its establishments across the country.

Well-informed sources told Business Recorder that on October 22,2019, Defence Division informed the federal cabinet that continuous electricity supply is a critical requirement for all military garrisons which house hospitals and sensitive military installations. At present, Army consumes 240MW of electricity costing over Rs 15 billion. The expenditure is increasing every year due to rising electricity tariffs, resulting in consuming substantial share out of Army’s budget.

Army undertook a series of extensive studies/ in-house discussions in order to explore options to acquire cheap electricity to reduce burden on army budget. Renewable Energy (RE), solar power, which is being encouraged by the government stands out as the best option.

The Cabinet was informed that Pakistan has immense solar potential and Pakistan Army has a very robust/exclusive electric distribution system for all garrisons to harness RE through capital solar parks.

Army intends to establish a solar park projects of 1-5MW each in various garrisons on Build-Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis. The pilot project is aimed at production of 40MW of electricity. No public money will be involved in establishment of solar parks and their operation and maintenance for 25 years.

Defence Ministry claims that purchase of electricity will be at least 20-30 per cent cheaper than from Distribution Companies (Discos). However, government approval was required to make payment on account of purchase of electricity to private companies/firms providing solar electricity.

It was further submitted that all the codal formalities to execute the project will be done in line with the government policy. The Cabinet was also informed that the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) and Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), an army of Power Division, has no objection to the proposal, while Finance Division and Power Division had also endorsed the proposal. The endorsement by Power Division has, however, certain conditions attached to it.

During the ensuing discussion, it was pointed out that the project was a business-to- business (B2B) deal and as such did not require approval of the cabinet. Another view was that the Cabinet may only consider endorsing the concept while pricing and other details should be dealt with at the appropriate forums. It was also pointed out that the indicative pricing was quite high and the sponsors should look at them carefully in view of the sharp decline in costs of renewable energy in the international market.

A view was expressed that opening up the electricity market was a good idea and should be considered on a wider scale, while at the same time taking into account the potential effects of carving out areas out of the jurisdiction of Discos and the consequent results on ordinary consumers, particularly when large capacity payments are to be made under the old agreements.

The sponsors clarified that tariff determination was the exclusive domain of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and a petition had already been filed with the Authority for licencing/ determination of tariff, however, endorsement of the concept by the Cabinet was sought for its implementation.

Nepra representatives present in the cabinet meeting expressed their intent to endorse the proposal. The Ministry of Energy also clarified that Alternate Energy Policy was being reviewed after a lapse of more than 12 years. The policy is based on a multi-buyer and multi-seller model and an effort is also being made to bring down the basket price of energy.