Islamabad, 18th October 2019: The 6th
meeting of the Energy Planning Expert Panel (EPEP) on China Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) was held on 15-16 October, 2019 in Islamabad. The
meeting was attended by the senior officials of Ministry of Energy (Power
Division), Planning Commission, PPIB, NTDC, NEPRA, PEPCO, AEDB, NEECA,
energy departments of all four provinces, AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan, while
from Chinese side, senior officials of China
Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI)
were among the participants.
Members from Pakistani and Chinese
expert panels deliberated on various aspects of ongoing projects under CPEC
and expressed satisfaction on the progress achieved so far under this
gigantic initiative. Joint Study on Power Market of Pakistan was discussed
and deliberated on exploring further avenues of energy cooperation between
two countries under the CPEC. Managing Director PPIB Mr. Shah Jahan
Mirza presented a comprehensive review on further energy cooperation under
the CPEC and briefed the Panel on power and allied infrastructure projects
that can be considered for implementing under the CPEC. In addition,
fruitful discussions were also held on the use of Chinese currency for
future investments in Power Projects.
Transmission and distribution system
of Pakistan was also discussed while particular focus of the Panel was on
evacuation of electricity from CPEC projects. Several other components of
energy sector were discussed which include risk of delayed payment of tariff
and currency depreciation, managements methods of CPEC energy projects, and
stability in the policy of CPEC energy projects.
The meeting was spread over two days.
The second day of the meeting was exclusively allocated for presentations
from Provincial governments, AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan on exploring and
deliberating future cooperation in the energy sector under CPEC. Productive
discussions as well as brief question answer sessions were held among
participants of the meeting for developing consensus on finalizing the
recommendations for further deliberation and consideration by Joint Energy
Working Group (JEWG).
The meeting of the JEWG was held on
18th October 2019 in Islamabad which was co-chaired by Mr. Irfan Ali,
Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and Mr. Li Fanrong, Vice
Administrator of China’s National Energy Administration (NEA). Both the
dignitaries in their opening speeches expressed satisfaction on the progress
of projects already undertaken under the CPEC and urged on broadening the
cooperation to cover other sectors of Pakistan’s economy as well beside
energy projects. The recommendations of the 6th EPEP meeting were thoroughly
discussed by JEWG before firming-up for final consideration and approval by
the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC. The Second half of the
meeting was allocated for oil and gas which was jointly chaired by
Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) Mian Asad Hayaud Din and
Mr. Li Fanrong, Vice Administrator of NEA. The development plan on Pakistan
oil & gas industry as well as proposed projects for consideration under CPEC
initiative was reviewed in detail and formed recommendations.
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