Energy Central-News Article

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has reserved its decision on Rs 1.83 per unit increase in the power tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for the month of August 2023.

On Wednesday, NEPRA's hearing was held on the application of Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) under the chairmanship of Waseem Mukhtar wherein NEPRA's Members of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also participated.

The officials of Central Power Purchasing Agency while giving a briefing to the authority (NEPRA) informed that 15 billion 47 crore units of electricity were provided to the DISCOs in the month of August, 2023. They said that improvements in electricity transmission systems could have increased the output from wind power plants while improved transmission could also increase the output of local coal-fired plants.

Speaking on the occasion, officials of NTDC told that transmission system has been facing problems for one and a half years due to which problem being faced in transmitting 3000MW of electricity from south to north.

Member NEPRA Maqsood Anwar Khan stated that he has been hearing from two and a half years that there are problems in the power transmission system. Why should we allow to collect money when electricity cannot be transmitted, asked Member NEPRA Maqsood Anwar Khan?

'Why should we (NEPRA) allow the cost of your incompetence to be charged to power consumers'?

Expressing displeasure over NTDC's performance, Member NEPRA, Rafique Ahmed Shaikh stated that the third-party audit of NTDC has been conducted and the third-party report did not go well in favor of NTDC. He asked tell me where should power customers go. He also asked why furnace oil plants are needed. He instructed NTDC officials to come prepared in the upcoming NEPRA's hearing.

NEPRA official stated that violation of merit order in August has resulted in an additional burden of Rs 59 crore on

NEPRA, in a statement, said that the authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday conducted a hearing and only heard the petitioner and stakeholders. However, the NEPRA has not taken any decision. The authority will issue its detailed decision after further scrutiny of the data, said NEPRA.

Earlier, CPPA on behalf of power distribution companies (DISCOs) except K-Electric has asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to approve 1.8290 per kilowatt hour (kWh) hike in the power tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for the month of August 2023.

The CPPA, in its application, has submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of August was recorded at 15,959 GWh, at a price of Rs8.2654 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs131,910 million.

The power generation with hydel source was 6,006GWh (giga watt per hour) constituting 37.63 per cent while power production with coal-fired power plants was 2,357 GWh (local + imported coal: 1,638+ 719GWh) which was 14.77 per cent of the total generation at a price of Rs20.1430 per unit and power generation with RFO was 649 GWh 4.51 per cent of total generation calculated at Rs33.3227 per unit.

Similarly, the power generation from gas-based power plants was 1,214 GWh, 7.60 per cent of the total generation, totaling Rs13.2190 per unit and the generation from Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) was 2,741 GWh, which was 17.17 per cent of total generation, at Rs23.7148 per unit.

Likewise, power production from bagasse recorded at 38 GWh, the price of which has been calculated at Rs5.9822 per unit. The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 8.5 GWh, 5.05 per cent of total generation and solar at 84 GWh, 0.53 per cent of the total generation in August 2023.

Moreover, electricity generation from nuclear sources was 2,040GWh which came out at Rs1.1725 per unit, 12.79 per cent of the total generation, and electricity imported from Iran was 26 GWh that amounted to Rs25.0981 per unit, 0.16 per cent of the total power generation in the said month.

It is also learnt from the data submitted by the CCPA-G with NEPRA that net electricity delivered to DISCOs in August 2023 was 15,472 GWh (96.95pc) at a rate of Rs8.4746 per unit, total price of which was Rs131,118 million.

The CPPA-G in its tariff adjustment request advocated that the reference fuel charges for August 2023 were fixed at Rs 6.6457 per unit while the actual fuel charges were recorded at Rs8.4747 per unit. So an increase of Rs 1.8290 per unit in the power tariff should be made for the month of August under FCA mechanism.