Pakistan speeds up power plant transfer

Abu Dhabi: The dismantling of a 320-megawatt natural gas and gas oil-fired power plant given to Pakistan by the Abu Dhabi Government will be complete by July 2010.

However, efforts are being made to transport dismantled units from the Bainounah Power Company quickly to Karachi, Pakistan's Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said yesterday.

"We are trying to speed up the process, so that we can start electricity generation in Pakistan as early as possible. The plant will be used to generate electricity in Punjab and Sindh," Ashraf told reporters here.

In recent times, Pakistan has been plagued by electricity supply problems.

Ashraf said part of the electricity generated by the Abu Dhabi plant would be for industrial use.

Care would be taken to place the units near Pakistan's producing gas fields so that an uninterrupted supply of fuel is maintained, he added.