Renowned news anchor Imran Khan Riaz has unearthed the massive corruption of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in collaboration with the previous government.
In a detailed YouTube video, Imran Khan has revealed how the wind power projects were established at more than double the actual cost.
According to him, as many, as 30 wind power plants were set up during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) tenure with each power plant costing up to $130 million for 50-megawatt capacity.
For reasons unknown, the government signed an agreement with them for an upfront tariff and bought expensive electricity (for as much as 13 cents per unit).
Only 25 percent of the total cost was paid by the private contractor while the rest of the amount was given by local banks and the Asian Development Bank on the government of Pakistan’s sovereign guarantee.
The irony is that these power projects were approved with an efficiency of just over 30 percent, which is way below global standards.
During a recent meeting, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the establishment of more wind power plants as they are relatively cheaper to set up and start producing electricity sooner than other means. The Power Division informed him that they have ten more applications pending since the PML-N tenure.
All ten companies were granted to set up Wind Power Plants at various locations. These plants, with the same generation capacity and 7 percent more efficiency, are being established at half the cost of the previous 30 plants, at $60 million.
