The recent floods have not only caused loss to human lives and infrastructure but the water lost was also worth to irrigate 40 million acre of land. Following excerpt gives the details:
Pakistan lost water worth Rs240 billion due to lack of dams and water reservoirs in the country.
Chairman Fauji Fertilizer Company talking to media men said a quantity of water needed for irrigating 40 million acres land has been wasted. He said Rs6 billion worth of water is required for irrigating 1 million acres land.
According to economic experts, due to absence of political harmony the country not only faced worst ever floods but also failed to store water worth Rs240 billion.
Environment, Infrastructure, Pakistan, Water
flood, Irrigation, Loss, Pakistan, Water
The government is facing difficulties in unloading oil consignments from ships because of port congestion and infrastructure limitations, resulting in supply shortages in flood affected areas of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern parts of the country.
Sources in the petroleum ministry told Dawn on Monday that the country’s oil consumption had dropped by about 50 per cent after the recent floods as transport activities had substantially slumped because of damage caused to the road infrastructure.
They said the stocks of petroleum products diesel, furnace oil and petrol were enough for more than 28 days of the country’s usual requirement but transportation problems were resulting in short supplies in many parts of the country, particularly in Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan.
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Energy, Events, Fuel, Infrastructure, Pakistan, Petrol
flood, Fuel, Petroleum
In our last post on the Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG); we discussed that LPG when mixed with air in right proportion, gives a perfect replacement for Natural Gas. While mentioning, the potential opportunities SNG can provide we said that Industries can use it as an alternate/back-up gas during the Natural Gas (NG) shutdown or curtailments times. In this post we shall discuss the importance of this alternate gas for industries and its need in the coming times.
In Pakistan, NG crisis are no different than energy crisis. Earlier we had NG shutdown hours/days only in winters, now we even have them in summers. With this happening it is easily predicted that in coming times or not thinking of far in the coming winters the NG shortage is going to get worst.
Managing Director Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), Dr Faiz Ullah Abbasi, has affirmed this while addressing a recent business gathering. He has said the at the problems regarding the supply of gas in the coming winter would become more serious as compared to the last year, as the demand and supply gap has started to widen.
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Energy, Gas, Infrastructure, Pakistan, SNG
government, Industries, Natural gas, OGDC, ogra, Pakistan, PARCO, SNG, SNGPL, SSGC, Sythetic
The state oil company, PSO already in litigation along with Petrosin over the auto-gas deal, it has now being disclosed by the company MD that a power group is involved in supply scams involving selling of cheap oil ahead of monthly price adjustments.
Here is an excerpt that appeared in Dawn News today.
A fresh scam in the oil supply chain surfaced on Thursday when the management of state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO) officially confirmed that a powerful group in the company was involved in selling cheap oil to influential dealers ahead of monthly price adjustments to enable them to charge higher rates from consumers.
As the managing director of the country’s largest oil supplier, Mr Irfan Qureshi, broke the news before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, the committee’s chairman, Shaikh Waqas Akram, demanded an inquiry and its report within a week to identify officials involved in manipulating the supply chain to the benefit of dealers.
Mr Qureshi told the committee that PSO officials were found providing petroleum products to dealers on credit at the end of each month in anticipation of an increase in prices to earn a windfall at the cost of PSO. He said two officials had been held accountable for being involved in the malpractices and an inquiry had been in progress since April.
He said the practice had been going on for years and had now been brought to an end. He said six officials at the Lalpir depot had been suspended for embezzling Rs100 million. He said whenever the PSO took action against corrupt officials, courts reinstated them.
Read more: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/powerful-group-in-pso-involved-in-supply-scams-370
Fuel, Infrastructure, Oil, PSO, Pakistan
oil, prices, PSO, scam, supply
Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) is a blend of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Air that is a direct replacement source for Natural Gas. Working on the fundamentals of fuel interchangebility, the LPG-Air mix/blending is an invisible application of LPG not known to many.
The oppurtunities SNG, also known as Substitute Natural Gas, provides include:
- Using it as an industrial back-up (during the Natural Gas shutdown/curtailments).
- Using it a base fuel to serve area not under service of Natural Gas.
- Using it to suppliment Natural Gas during peak demands known as peak shaving.
SNG is made by mixing the vapour LPG with air to a ratio of approximately 45% air and 55% LPG. Why mixing? Becasue LPG is a highly concentrated source of energy, with 2516 BTU’s per cubic foot gross heat content. Which is too rich to be used as a substitute for natural gas without dilution. If the Natural Gas and SNG have an indentical Wobbe Index, they will produce equivalent energies and will combust in the same amount of air. Thus the mixer blends in just the right amount of air and LPG; producing a mix of specific gravity 1.31 (1480BTU/Cu.Ft) and Wobbe Index that will match that of the Natural Gas.
This interchangeable use of SNG and NG makes it a powerful tool to startegically manage Natural Gas shortage. In the coming posts we will discuss the details of this strategy and technical aspects of SNG.
Energy, Infrastructure, Natural Gas, SNG
Natural g, Pakistan, SNG, Synthethic Natural Ga
After many years of discussions, politics and negotiations Pakistan and Iran signed the gas pipeline deal last month. To see a historical perspective, see the below image from 2005. India is no longer part of the deal. Also note the US reaction, via Dawn.
Construction on the pipeline should begin this year and be operational by 2014, said Abdul Basit, a foreign ministry spokesman.
Iran and Pakistan signed an initial pact in June last year and reached agreement on pricing in September. Under the terms of the final deal signed Tuesday, Iran will supply 750 million cubic feet a day of gas to Pakistan for 25 years.
The pipeline has been on the drawing board since the mid-1990s, when Iran and India signed a deal to transport gas through Pakistan. Dubbed the “Peace Pipeline” because of hopes it would lead to a détente between rivals India and Pakistan, the $7 billion, 2,700-kilometer pipeline project was stalled as the two nations almost went to war in 2001.
India dropped out last year amid continued security concerns in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, home to a militant Islamist separatist movement, and over disagreements between the parties on pricing.
The scaled-down project could still face further delays. Militants blew up another gas pipeline in Baluchistan in August, highlighting the difficulties Pakistan’s government faces in operating in the poor but resource-rich province. Some details of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline also remain unclear, including how much it will cost and how the countries will finance the project given U.S. opposition.
Gas, Infrastructure, Investment, Natural Gas
FFC Energy Limited (FFCEL) has finalised contracts of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) with Nordex of Germany for development of 50 Megawatt Wind Power Project at Jhimpir, Sindh.
FFCEL is a fully owned subsidiary of Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited (FFC), while Nordex AG is a leading manufacturer of Wind Turbines in the world. Founder and Chief Sales Officer of Nordex Carsten Pedersen and Lieutenant General Malik Arif Hayat (Retd) CE & MD, FFC & FFCEL exchanged the contract documents, a press release issued here said.
Arif Alauddin, CEO Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) Pakistan was also present at the ceremony. FFCEL shall soon be filing Tariff Petition with NEPRA for the project. The construction of the project, shall begin after Tariff approval from National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and signing of Energy Purchase Agreement between FFCEL and Central Power Purchase Agency. The project, once operational, shall address electricity shortage in the country and will also help the economy by providing cleaner, sustainable and economical electricity to the nation.
FFC has further planned to develop and establish more renewable energy projects in Pakistan to contribute towards fulfilling Pakistan’s electricity needs through captive renewable resources. To that end, FFC has already obtained Letter of Intent (LOI) of additional 100 MW Wind Power Projects from (AEDB)
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Clean Technology, Energy, Green, Infrastructure, Investment, Pakistan, Renewable Energy, Wind
Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) recently inaugurated its new 220 MW (megawatt) Combined Cycle Power Plant located in Korangi. The plant, owned and operated by the KESC, has been completed with an investment of Rs 16 billion. It consists of four latest, state-of-the-art high-efficiency gas turbines, one steam turbine and other plant equipmentNote that Abraj Capital assumed management control of KESC in late 2008. The current deficit of electricity in the system stands at around 3,500 megawatts. The KESC has started pre-construction activities for a new 560 megawatts combined cycle power plant at Bin Qasim which would be functional in one and half year
All the big shots, Prime Minister, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Education Minister Mazharul Haq and others were also present on this occasion. The Prime Minister said that a mix of moderate generation capacity projects like Duber Khwar, Jinnah Low Head Mianwali, Nandipur, 3 Chashnupp, 121 Mega Watts Allai Khwar, Bhikki Power Plant and Liberty Power Tech are some of the prominent power projects in thermal, nuclear and hydro sectors.
Prime Minister said that theft of electricity and non-payment of dues are the biggest reasons of bringing this sector under crisis. “It is a vicious cycle which affects investment in the system and needs to be broken through building better coordination among all stakeholders in the city of Karachi,” he added.
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Electricity, Energy, Infrastructure, Natural Gas
Vodafone Qatar and Alcatel-Lucent announced the deployment of the first hybrid powered Base Station in Qatar, using an integration of solar and wind energy. Vodafone and other companies intend to learn from these trial sites and plans to apply these techniques all over the world.
The wind turbine at the Qatar site has been mounted at the top of the existing mast to leverage higher winds. The energy controller brings intelligent control to simultaneously draw power from both the photovoltaic panels and wind turbine, based on solar intensity and wind speed, making the most – at every second – of the two sources’ fluctuating availability. The system also carefully monitors battery charging cycles and diesel generator maintenance runs so as to maximize their lifespan. A full monitoring system enables real-time tracking of all weather and energy parameters; a key component to enabling large scale deployments.
Conservation, Energy, Environment, Green, Infrastructure, Solar
alcatel, telecom, vodafone
It is estimated that the coal resources of Pakistan were more than 185 billion tonnes. The present net demand of coal in the country was about 10.1 million tonnes out of which 4.1 million tonnes were produced locally and 6 million tonnes were imported.
To increase the coal production by 20 percent the Coal Sub-Group proposed that focus must be made on the improvement of underground transportation of coal and construction of roads from coal bearing zone to the market.
Daily Times adds:
The Coal Sub-Group emphasised on greater exploitation of the indigenous energy resources, which was an important strategy in Energy Security Action Plan, which envisaged the share of coal from the 6 percent to 19 percent in 2019, the sources maintained.
The group was of the view that the provincial governments were unable to provide the requisite assistance to the private coal miners to overcome the difficulties.
The sources said that in January 2007, Energy Logistic Committee (ELC) was constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources and the ELC constituted three sup-groups on coal, gas and oil, headed by respective director generals.
In order to achieve the objectives of the ELC, the Coal Sub-Group proposed that focus must be made on the improvement of underground transportation of coal and construction of road from coal bearing zone to the market through an umbrella PC-I.
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Energy, Fuel, Infrastructure, coal
