Karim Madad

The management of K-Electric (KE) has proposed a strong investment plan of Rs484 billion to guarantee a sustainable electricity supply for the consumers of Karachi. The KE Director Communication Imran Rana said while talking to WealthPK that KE has proposed its investment plan 2024-2030 for transmission and distribution segments.

“The futuristic plan keeps the KE customers at the heart of the business and seeks to leverage technology as a mainstay to further improve network reliability for smooth and reliable supply of power, while accelerating Karachi’s development, progress, and sustainability,” he said.

Imran said the new plan envisages investing Rs484 billion across the transmission and distribution (T&D) businesses with an eye on projected growth in power demand, loss reduction initiatives, targeted and technology-driven investments in the network for improved reliability and safety, as well as initiatives to enable KE off-take additional power from external sources including the national grid.

“The goal at the end is to make power supply affordable, safe, reliable, and smooth. At the same time, the plan seeks to invest in climate resilient and environmentally sustainable infrastructure for power supply,” Imran said. Since privatisation, the director of communication said, the KE has halved its T&D losses and doubled its customer base and power consumption. This became possible due to sustained investments totalling Rs474 billion across the value chain.

As per the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) State of Industry Report, since its privatisation in 2005, KE has been the most improved distribution company in terms of loss reduction. The new investment plan is designed to further the operational improvements and is aligned with KE’s vision to keep the customers’ interests and needs at the core of the company’s business operations.

In response to a question, Imran said the previous MYT (multi-year tariff) was an integrated model that together clubbed generation, transmission, and distribution. “As the market transforms into an open ecosystem, we look forward to working in this environment to bring the best of our services for our customers,” he said. Renowned business leader and Coordinator Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Meher Kashif Younis told WealthPK that Karachi, the industrial hub of Pakistan, needs a reliable power supply to keep up with its growth trajectory.

“It is heartening to see that KE has come out in support of the open market framework by proposing an unbundled tariff without asking for exclusivity rights for its business segments. Their petitions across the T&D segment are well-supported by an ambitious investment plan of around Rs500 billion over the next tariff control period,” he said. Kashif said this is an extraordinary effort from KE whereby the utility is preparing to embrace the future, which lies in the opening of the power sector.

Based on KE’s request to NEPRA, such as an investment revision mechanism after every two years, a flexible USD vs PKR indexation, its ambitious plan to include more power from renewables and indigenous resources will make power affordable for customers, support industries, the overall economy,” he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk