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Refund claim increases by 50% to $120m
Power plant ship will not leave Pakistans shores without paying claim
KARACHI: Pakistani authorities have increased the refund claim on the Turkish rental power plant ship Karkey by 50 percent to $120 million from the previous estimate of $80 million for failing to deliver according to its agreement to supply 230 megawatts (MW) to the national grid and causing huge losses to the government of Pakistan, sources in the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) said on Saturday.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has stopped Karkey from leaving the shores of Pakistan. Billions of rupees were spent on laying the infrastructure, cables and deployment of technicians and workers for generating the 230 MW power, but hardly 30 MW were generated, which caused huge losses to the government of Pakistan in the last three years.
Earlier it was maintained Karkey would pay an amount of $20 million as an instalment by November 1, 2012.
However, the company made no payment so far while Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) also claimed the outstanding amount stands at around $210 million, which was earlier estimated at $80 million.
Sources said after reaching final settlement with Turkish authority, NAB would seek permission from the Supreme Court (SC) for giving green signal to Karkey to proceed to its homeland. NAB officials asked the MSA and PQA to stop Karkey till an amicable settlement was reached between the parties.
Earlier, NAB allowed four burgesses allied with Karkey to Pakistan waters, as they were part of the system of the power plant ship. The Karkey arrived some time more than three years back in Pakistan to add 230 MW to the national grid. It did not produce the required power according to the accord made between Ministry of Water and Power and Pakistan Electric Power Supply Company to supply electricity to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC). Karkey only managed to produce not more than 30 MW of power and instead supplying Karachi with 230 MW it consumed electricity from the KESC for its local power requirements.
According to the SC, Karkey would not leave without paying back around $170 million to Pakistan authorities.
The production cost of power by Karkey is estimated around Rs 41 per unit, which is a huge price for local requirement.
The Karkey has already shifted two storage tanks and a small power plant to Port Qasim from Ibrahim Haideri Harbour.
The infrastructure including cables erected for transmission of power into the national grid system inflicted the national kitty with a loss of more than Rs 1 billion, which went to waste following the failure of generation of power by Karkey.
The connection of the ship has also been cut off from the national grid system, which has also cost more Rs 10 million to the national exchequer besides heavy financial loss on back of money spent on the deployment of workers and technicians in this regard.
The sources in the Ministry of Water and Power said still the first instalment of around $20 million has yet to be received before the ship is allowed to leave Pakistans shores. The power-generating ship came as part of an agreement signed three years ago between Pakistan and a private company of Turkey-Karkey Karadeniz Electrik Uretim.
The barge-mounted Turkish rental power plant, lying idle for months after the SC decision against rental power projects, was likely to go back to Turkey as the NAB had finalised issues related to rental plants. The plant was expected to improve power supply to Karachi, which was denied by the KESC spokesman. It never supplied power to KESC.
The PQA had taken action against the firm on April 5, 2012, after the SC verdict called for the dissolution of all rental power projects. The KESC, which was earlier supplying power to the ship to meet its maintenance needs, had also stopped the supply after the SCs verdict.
Before the SCs verdict, the government as per power purchase agreement was paying $9 million per month as rental charges to the Karkey power plant that earlier was producing 30 MW electricity against the 230 MW committed in the agreement.
The ship carrying worlds biggest rental power plant with a 250 MW power generation capacity arrived in Karachi in November 2009.
As per Rental Service Agreements, the Pakistan Electric Power Company could not get the performance guarantees as commissioning plant got delayed. The Private Power Infrastructure Board recruited the plant with 93 percent availability for the next five years in the beginning of 2009.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Power plant ship will not leave Pakistans shores without paying claim
KARACHI: Pakistani authorities have increased the refund claim on the Turkish rental power plant ship Karkey by 50 percent to $120 million from the previous estimate of $80 million for failing to deliver according to its agreement to supply 230 megawatts (MW) to the national grid and causing huge losses to the government of Pakistan, sources in the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) said on Saturday.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has stopped Karkey from leaving the shores of Pakistan. Billions of rupees were spent on laying the infrastructure, cables and deployment of technicians and workers for generating the 230 MW power, but hardly 30 MW were generated, which caused huge losses to the government of Pakistan in the last three years.
Earlier it was maintained Karkey would pay an amount of $20 million as an instalment by November 1, 2012.
However, the company made no payment so far while Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) also claimed the outstanding amount stands at around $210 million, which was earlier estimated at $80 million.
Sources said after reaching final settlement with Turkish authority, NAB would seek permission from the Supreme Court (SC) for giving green signal to Karkey to proceed to its homeland. NAB officials asked the MSA and PQA to stop Karkey till an amicable settlement was reached between the parties.
Earlier, NAB allowed four burgesses allied with Karkey to Pakistan waters, as they were part of the system of the power plant ship. The Karkey arrived some time more than three years back in Pakistan to add 230 MW to the national grid. It did not produce the required power according to the accord made between Ministry of Water and Power and Pakistan Electric Power Supply Company to supply electricity to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC). Karkey only managed to produce not more than 30 MW of power and instead supplying Karachi with 230 MW it consumed electricity from the KESC for its local power requirements.
According to the SC, Karkey would not leave without paying back around $170 million to Pakistan authorities.
The production cost of power by Karkey is estimated around Rs 41 per unit, which is a huge price for local requirement.
The Karkey has already shifted two storage tanks and a small power plant to Port Qasim from Ibrahim Haideri Harbour.
The infrastructure including cables erected for transmission of power into the national grid system inflicted the national kitty with a loss of more than Rs 1 billion, which went to waste following the failure of generation of power by Karkey.
The connection of the ship has also been cut off from the national grid system, which has also cost more Rs 10 million to the national exchequer besides heavy financial loss on back of money spent on the deployment of workers and technicians in this regard.
The sources in the Ministry of Water and Power said still the first instalment of around $20 million has yet to be received before the ship is allowed to leave Pakistans shores. The power-generating ship came as part of an agreement signed three years ago between Pakistan and a private company of Turkey-Karkey Karadeniz Electrik Uretim.
The barge-mounted Turkish rental power plant, lying idle for months after the SC decision against rental power projects, was likely to go back to Turkey as the NAB had finalised issues related to rental plants. The plant was expected to improve power supply to Karachi, which was denied by the KESC spokesman. It never supplied power to KESC.
The PQA had taken action against the firm on April 5, 2012, after the SC verdict called for the dissolution of all rental power projects. The KESC, which was earlier supplying power to the ship to meet its maintenance needs, had also stopped the supply after the SCs verdict.
Before the SCs verdict, the government as per power purchase agreement was paying $9 million per month as rental charges to the Karkey power plant that earlier was producing 30 MW electricity against the 230 MW committed in the agreement.
The ship carrying worlds biggest rental power plant with a 250 MW power generation capacity arrived in Karachi in November 2009.
As per Rental Service Agreements, the Pakistan Electric Power Company could not get the performance guarantees as commissioning plant got delayed. The Private Power Infrastructure Board recruited the plant with 93 percent availability for the next five years in the beginning of 2009.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
