According to newspaper reports, Three Gorges Corporation, the state-run power company of China, is taking keen interest in a financing consortium to fund up to $50 billion of hydroelectric power projects in Pakistan. The company is interested to launch power projects in Pakistan in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation. Pakistan and China have already signed agreements worth $46 billion to finance power and transportation infrastructure projects, leading to the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and making China the biggest financier of infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The company offering to build the project already operates the world’s biggest Three Gorges Dam, having a capacity of 22,500 megawatts, which is almost equal to Pakistan’s total installed capacity of 23,500 megawatts. According to experts, Pakistan has the capacity to produce up to 60,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power, of which 40,000 megawatts can be produced in Indus cascade, which begins in Skardu and runs through Tarbela, the biggest dam in Pakistan. The government has already identified and carried out preliminary work on the Diamer Bhasha dam, which will cost $15 billion and it will have a capacity to produce of 4,500 megawatts. The government is optimistic about ending energy crisis by the end of 2017.
On another note the government is trying to shift power generation from furnace oil to LNG and in the near term, about 2,000 megawatts of non-furnace oil generation will be added to the national grid. The country is the large scale importer of POL products which costs the national exchequer $16 billion annually. However, the economists hope that by shifting of power generation to non-furnace oil and declining oil prices will help reduce the huge import bill in 2016. It is hoped that use of LNG will considerably lower the import bill and minimize the trade deficits.
The government is spending billions of rupees annually to find ways and means to produce alternative sources of energy, but the performance of the organization which is tasked to do the job is zero. A solar energy park is being established, but with the cooperation of China which is in fact a cosmetic step to overcome the crisis. Why the government does not allow the manufacturing of voltaic cells in Pakistan is a mystery. Importing finished products for such as solar cells and solar panels is not a solution to the problem. However, it is good omen that the Chinese company is taking interest in power projects in Pakistan despite all odds. The government should not delay the striking of the deal.