Wapda to increase quantum of load-shedding

Lahore: With the domestic power shortage surging to 1,100 megawatts, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) decided on Wednesday to correspondingly increase the quantum of load-shedding.

According to a Wapda official, the demand on Wednesday increased up to 12,000MW against a supply of 10,900MW. The deficit, he said, was mainly caused by a decrease in water releases by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa).

“The country would be producing surplus energy if water releases by Irsa are increased,” they said. “Power generation project is only a by-product and irrigation requirements dictate the water releases.”

Due to the water restrictions, Tarbella Dam contributed only 700MW against its installed capacity of 3,400MW. Similarly, Mangla Dam contributed only 900MW against the installed capacity of 1,000MW. The Ghazi Barotha Hydro-Project (GBHP) was restricted to 1,100MW against its capacity of 1,450MW.

The water releases are the decisive factor in current shortages, they insisted.

Meanwhile, the provinces on Wednesday jointly rejected a Wapda request seeking a daily increase in water discharge capacity by an average of 22,000 cusec from major dams for power generation project to offset the shortage.

The consensus of the provinces emerged at a meeting of the Irsa advisory committee that finalised water availability estimates and distribution plan for Kharif 2006-07. The meeting was presided over by Irsa Chairman Muhammad Khan Memon and was attended by all Irsa members and representatives of the provinces and Wapda.

The Wapda authorities said that additional supplies would enable it to reduce the shortage by 500-600-megawatt. They had proposed to increase releases from Tarbela dam from 15,000 cusec to 30,000 cusec and from 28,000 cusec to 35,000 cusec from Mangla dam.

“The provinces turned down the request with consensus,” an official who attended the meeting told Dawn. The provinces took the position that an unprecedented quantity of water had been carried forward this year but it was specifically meant for irrigation and it “could not be allowed to be wasted” for power generation.

The meeting noted with satisfaction that there would be no water shortage in the Kharif season and the provinces would get full indented supplies from April to September. The meeting also finalised the anticipated water availability for the season and noted that about 4.1 million acre-foot (MAF) of water was carried forward by Wednesday.

The total water availability was estimated at 124 MAF for the season, of which about 76 MAF would be provided to the provinces in Kharif. The provinces did not have the capacity to use more water, the sources said. About 28 MAF of water would be used for escapages below Kotri while system losses would amount to 10 MAF. The remaining 10.5 MAF would be carried forward into the next Rabi season through storages.

The committee allocated 37.9 MAF of water for Punjab, 34.4 MAF for Sindh, 0.82 MAF for the NWFP and 2.85 MAF for Balochistan.

The meeting also noted with satisfaction that it had correctly predicted a 14 per cent water shortage in the just-concluded Rabi season and hoped that its estimates for the current season were even better.

Meanwhile, Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi also confirmed that the country was facing a power shortage.

Speaking to journalists at the ground-breaking ceremony of Irsa building, he said the government was in the process of finalising an energy conservation plan for the current year and hoped that about 1200MW capacity addition would take place by next year.

He said that an independent consultant was being hired to investigate the failure of telemetry system and fix responsibility. He said the Rs340 million project had been initiated under the directives of the President Gen Pervez Musharaf but there were some outstanding issues. He said the project would soon be made operational.