Nepra likely to allow another increase of Rs2.51 per unit in power tariff

Islamabad – NEPRA is likely to allow another increase of Rs 2.51 per unit in Power tariff to power distribution companies (Discos) on account of fuel charges adjustment for September 2021.

In a hearing presided over by Chairman NEPRA Tauseef.H.Farooqi on the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G) petition for an increase of Rs 2.66 per unit in power tariff under fuel charges adjustment for September 2021, the regulator noted that an additional burden of Rs 2.07 billion occurred due to violation of merit order. Similarly, the burden of Rs 1.1bn occurred due to shortage of LNG, the NEPRA official informed.

In a petition submitted to NEPRA on the behalf of power distribution companies (Discos), CPPA-G said that for the month of September the reference fuel charges from the consumers were Rs 5.0229 per unit while the actual fuel cost was Rs 7.6816 per unit. Therefore it should be allowed to pass the increase of Rs 2.6587 per unit to the consumers. However, NEPRA has noted that the increase will be around Rs 2.51 per unit. The decision will have an impact of Rs 37 billion on power consumers.

During hearing, it was informed that in September the supply of the LNG was 660mmcfd against the demand of the 950mmcfd. Chairman NERPA questioned that why the use of furnace oil for power generation increased in September. The NPCC official informed that the electricity demand increased during the month and some plants were on outage. Secretary Power Division, Ali Raza Bhutta informed the hearing that the demand for electricity increased by 7 percent during September. There are hurdles in the supply of LNG, he maintained and added that the impediments cannot be removed till the establishment of new terminals.

Vice Chairman NEPRA said that since from the last 8 to 10 months the supply of LNG is facing problems. Why the advance planning is not being done for the fuel supply, he asked. Nepra has reserved the judgment and will announce the decision later.

The CPPA-G further said the total energy generated during September was 14031.89GWh, less than the August generation of 16078.09 GWh, at the total cost of Rs 95.361b. The cost of per unit energy was Rs 6.7960 per unit. According to the CCPA-G data, net electricity delivered to Discos was 13,629.91 GWh at the cost of Rs 104.699b or Rs 7.6816 per unit.

Hydel power generation was recorded at 5085GWh against the generation of 5594.30 GWh in August. The share of hydel generation was 36.24pc, the share of coal in power generation increased from 2293.83 GWh(14.27pc) in August to 2392GWh (17.05pc) in September. The cost of coal generation was Rs 10.0809 per unit. The generation from High Speed Diesel decreased from 19.84 GWh (0.12 per cent) in August to just 2.34GWh (0.02pc) in September. The cost of electricity generated from HSD was Rs 21.7417 per unit. The electricity generated from Furnace oil during September was 997.44 GWh (7.11pc) at the cost of 19.2323 per unit.

Electricity generation from gas-based power plants was 1248.28GWh (8.90pc), against the August generation of 1,313.21 GWh, at Rs 8.3329 per unit. RLNG contributed 2651 GWh (18.90pc) in September, against the generation of 2895.92 GWh in August, at Rs 14.9104 per unit which was higher than the previous month’s generation cost of Rs 13.4401 per unit.

The generation from nuclear power plants also decreased from 1,630.19 GWh in August to 1281.80 GWh (9.13pc) in September, at Rs 0.9813 per unit. Electricity imported from Iran was 48.27GWh (0.34pc) at Rs 13.1146 per unit. The power generation from baggasse was recorded at 16.48 GWh at Rs 5.9819 per unit. The power generation from different sources (mixed) was 16.18 GWh at a price of Rs 4.6382 per unit, while generation from wind was recorded at 230.40 GWh or 1.64pc and solar generation was 60.75 GWh or 0.43pc.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/28-Oct-2021/nepra-likely-to-allow-another-increase-of-rs2-51-per-unit-in-power-tariff