Energy projects under CPEC, a real relief for Pakistani people

My name is Muhammad Imran. I currently live in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, but my home town is Lodhran, a City of Punjab province in the south region of the country. This is not only my story but the voice of 220 million Pakistani people.

Before 2015, Pakistan was facing energy crises, and 4 to 8 hours load shedding of electricity was normal across the country. People were trying to find alternate solutions but because of low income levels, it was not possible for the common man to install a generator or UPS system for uninterrupted electricity supply. More than 1,200 people died in a heat wave during summer 2015, and electricity load shedding was among the few causes of this incident.

In April 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan and signed agreements on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of the Belt and Road Initiative with Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. 

In his message about CPEC, President Xi stated that “we (China and Pakistan) should advance our shared interests and achieve common development.

We should use the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to drive our practical cooperation with a focus on Gwadar Port, energy, infrastructure development and industrial cooperation so that the fruits of its development will reach both the people in Pakistan and the people of other countries in our region.”

During the last four years, eight energy projects under CPEC have been completed and are now supplying more than 3,640MW energy to the national grid.

Thar Block2, the Sahiwal coal-fired power plant, Dawood wind farm, Quaid-i-Azam solar, UEP wind farm, Sachal wind farm, Port Qasim power plant and the Three Gorges second and third wind farms are among the completed energy projects under CPEC.

After completion of these energy projects, the supply situation is much better and load shedding duration is gradually decreasing, which is a big relief for our people.

Suki Kinari HPP, Korot HPP, SSRL coal, Thal Nova power, Kohala HPP, Cacho wind, Western Energy wind, Coal-fired plant at Gwadar and Oracle power with a 5,094 MW generation capacity are also in various stages of completion.

I hope that after completion of work on all energy projects under CPEC, Pakistan will become a country free of load shedding, which will help boost our economy and industry production.

During the first phase of CPEC, China invested in different projects, including energy, infrastructure and development of Gawadar port, and now in CPEC's second phase, the establishment of special economic zones , social sector development - especially in poverty alleviation, agriculture, water and irrigation, education and human resource development, are mutually agreed priorities. 

The author is a journalist with the Dawn News TV, Pakistan and is currently participating in the China Asia Pacific Press Center 2019 program in Beijing.