Be ready for 14-hour power cuts, warns KESC

Karachi: The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has warned that loadshedding duration across the city would be increased to 14 hours a day when gas supply from the Sui Southern Gas Company decreases by up to 80 Million Metric Cubic Feet Daily (MMCFD) due to the Annual Turn-Around (ATA) of Bhit Gas Field that starts from April 11.

The KESC Chief Financial Officer, Tayyab Tareen, told newsmen at a briefing on Thursday that talks were on with SSGC officials and other authorities concerned that gas supply to the KESC should not decrease to as low as 80 MMCFD but in case this happened then the power utility would have no option but to drastically increase load shedding. He said the KESC had been working on the plan for increased load shedding schedule in case the gas pressure dropped to the minimum of 80 MMCFD. In such a scenario of reduced gas supply the KESC would not be in a position to maintain exemption from load shedding to industrial areas of the city and the industrial estates could also face load shedding by up to eight hours.

A SSGC official said the ATA of Bhit Gas Field, having a production capacity of 345 MMCFD, would commence from April 11 for next 22 days and during first five days of the ATA, the gas supply to the KESC could decrease to the minimum of 80 MMCFD and then would gradually rise and after 22 days the gas volume would be fully restored and attain the present level of 170 to 180 MMCFD.

The KESC Chief of Finance said the KESC had already been facing gradual reduction in gas supply over past several months causing serious repercussions for the consumer-end tariff and for operations of power generation plants of the utility, some of which only operates on gas.

He said that reduction in gas supply had serious impact on electricity generation as furnace oil was 3.7 times more expensive than the natural gas and higher cost of fuel for power generation would cause a sharp increase in the financial burden for the consumers in a situation where international monetary organisations like the IMF has been demanding withdrawal of subsidy provided by the government in the power sector.

He sad the KESC demands that the allocated quota of gas for it i.e. 276 MMCFD should be provided to it as this allocation had been approved by the most relevant federal government fora including Economic Coordination Committee and such an improved volume of gas would be much helpful for the KESC to meet increasing demand of electric supply in the city.

He said the SSGC had been failing to provide a steady level of gas supply to the KESC and the gas volume being supplied has been much lower than the allocated quota of 276 MMCFD and this is the main reason barring the KESC from signing the gas purchase agreement with the SSGC.

He lamented the situation that KESC had been facing consistent reduction in gas supply when Sindh produces 70.8 per cent of the total gas production in the country. He said that overall allocation of gas supply to the power sector of the country had decreased from 43.5 per cent to 28.7 per cent from 2005 to 2010. While during the same period, allocation of gas supply for domestic sector increased from 14.9 per cent to 17.2 per cent, for general industries allocation increased from 19.5 per cent to 26.1 per cent, for fertilizer plants allocation increased from 16.4 per cent to 17.2 per cent, while for CNG station the allocation of gas has increased from 2.1 per cent to 7.7 per cent from 2005 to 2010.

He lamented the situation that the gas supply from the SSGC to power plants of Sindh and Balochistan, as per sector-wise allocation of gas by the SSGC, decreased from 38.5 per cent to 29.6 per cent from 2006 to 2010 while in the same period gas allocation for CNG stations increased from 2.4 per cent to 6.3 per cent. He said that such gradual decrease in allocation of gas supply to the power generation plants, especially that of the KESC, had been made while completely ignoring the crucial cause of electricity generation and supply for benefit of citizens, commercial, and industrial activities particularly in the city of Karachi.