Lahore: Model Town Society to install Rs 100m grid station

[LRE]

MTS to install Rs 100m grid station

* New station to allow society to get authority to regulate load shedding
* Residents critical of loss of generation project
* Administration claims grid station sufficient for needs

By Afnan Khan



LAHORE: The Model Town Society (MTS), to cope with its severe power shortage, is considering the installation of a new grid station in the area in collaboration with the Lahore Electricity Supply Corporation (LESCO), Daily Times learnt on Sunday.

The MTS administration would be given the authority to schedule their load shedding timing according to their comfort with the installation of the new grid station. The new 5MW grid station would be built in K-Block, near Mardyaan, at a cost of Rs 100 million.

The MTS administration, after continuous complaints from residents, about the load shedding has already approved the development of the project. The project gained more importance when an ongoing deal to build their own power generation plant, in collaboration with a private Liquid Nitrogen Gas supplier, fell through due to in-fighting.

The total electricity consumption of the society was 22MW during the summers, however, they received a total of 16MW, making the additional 5MW sufficient to satisfy their needs for the time being. The new grid station would also remove the additional burden from the existing older grids in case of emergencies.

Critical: The residents, however, are still critical of the administration for losing the power generation project and settling for a temporary remedy. MTS association president Amir Azam said that the local WAPDA authorities were responsible for the unscheduled load shedding and the lack of maintenance of the transformers and other equipment in the area. He attributed the loss of the power generation project to ill-intentioned members of the administration who had vested interests in the project going to other parties at the expense of the locals.

Sufficient: MTS President Col ® Tahir Kardar told Daily Times that the current grid station was trying to provide relief to the residents while the new project was to be started within a month. He said that, once launched, the station would satisfy the demands of the residents. He also said that the society was establishing the grid station with its own funds and this would provide them with the authority to regulate its own load shedding. The administration did not want to employ favourites in the power generation project, however, the opposition had opposed the project for the sake of opposition, he added.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg7_38