Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization
Riaz Ahmad Jan
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PEDO has not
only turned as a self-sustainable public sector organization with assets
costing billion of worth but has also earned a sizable revenue of more than Rs.
38 billion for the provincial government during the last one decade. The
organization has now abruptly grown into a robust entity to shoulder a huge
responsibility of managing the construction of a number of hydro power projects
with a total generation capacity of 2750 MW during the upcoming 10 years period
as compared to construction of 161 MW during the past more than 30 years by the
same organization with its gradual evolution. These projects include (774 MW)
projects to be constructed in public sector and (1976 MW) projects to be
constructed in private/PPP mode.
A number of innovative reforms have been
introduced in PEDO in the last few years to cater for the emerging demands of
energy sector of the province. The first exemplary reform is establishment of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Transmission Line and Grid Company System (KPT & GCS)
which is now working as independent entity. As the bulk of hydro power
potential of the province is centered in Swat and Chitral valleys, evacuation
and transmission of power to be generated by PEDO energy projects was, therefore,
one of the critical problems due to lengthy and cumbersome process of
compliance with different procedures and formalities of the Federal Power
Division. The Company will, therefore, significantly resolve this issues and
facilitate transmission of affordable electricity to industrial sector of the
province. Skeleton staff for the Company has been hired and it has started its
function by looking after the transmission line portion of the ongoing 5 hydro
power projects of PEDO.
The second vital reform is adoption of a policy to make PEDO a
financially sustainable entity keeping in mind the sever resource crunch of the
provincial government. Under the new policy, corporate and project financing
model will be adopted for raising funds from the capital market by PEDO for
funding its upcoming power projects instead of total reliance on public
exchequer. In this endeavored, the technical and financial assistance of the
renowned multilateral agencies and firms are being explored. It is worth mentioning
that the process of taking loan of Rs.7 billion on corporate financing basis
has been finalized in line with the financial and business plans approved by
the provincial government.
The third epic
making initiative introduced by PEDO is Wheeling mechanism for the power
generated by PEDO projects. It is a pride moment for Energy & Power
Department and PEDO that the first phase of wheeling was successfully launched,
through a process of open and fair competition, wherein electricity generated from the 18 MW Pehur Power
Plant is being provided to the industrial consumers at a very economical rate.
Phase-II of the program will also be resumed shortly which was previously
stopped due to court stay order. Another parallel step
being initiated by PEDO for boosting industrialization in the province is
development of a model to utilize the electricity available from its smaller hydel projects on Off-Grid
captive use model by the local industry. This will also be carried out through
a competitive and transparent process. The PEDO
Policy Board in its recent meeting Chaired by the Honorable Chief Minister has
approved the proposal in-principle.
Apart from
the above, PEDO has also taken some crucial steps to further improve its
administrative setup. The new PEDO APT (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer)
Rules, 2020 were farmed and notified in line with the increasing requirements
of the organization and to provide it with an efficient merit-based
administrative set up. For the first time, Officers of PEDO were sent for
mandatory trainings and capacity buildings courses in WAPDA Staff College,
Islamabad and Hydro Power Institute Mangla and other relevant Institutes. These
trainings have now been made mandatory for promotion of officers working in
PEDO.
A Paid
Internship Program for young engineers has been launched by PEDO, keeping in
view scarcity of employment opportunities in the province. A monthly stipend of
Rs. 30,000/- is paid to them. It is worth-mentioning that 126 internees were
trained during 2022-23. To avail financial assistance in this initiative, an
MoU was signed between PEDO and the Pakistan Engineering Council which has
benefited more technical graduates with less financial burden on PEDO.
Moreover, to
ensure transparency and to effectively monitor the affairs of the Organization,
a number of IT based reform have been introduced including the Task Management
System, E-Tendering Mechanism, File Tracking System, Assets Management System
and the Artificial Intelligence Facial Recognition Attendance System. We are
now entering into a new era of paperless filing system for which necessary
training of staff has been completed and the software launched on pilot run
basis. I look forward to see PEDO as one of the largest revenue earning
organization of the province in near future.