Pakistan's power generation increases, but so does cost

Power generation in Pakistan witnessed a growth of 7% in September on a yearly basis. However, the cost of generation went up by 65% amid hike in rates of energy commodities, stated a report by a brokerage house.

Similarly, Pakistan's exports also saw a rising trend on a month-on-month basis, clocking in at $2.64 billion in September, up 12.5%. In the first quarter, exports were recorded at $7 billion. Meanwhile, the government expects that exports will be close to $31 billion with another $6-7 billion export of services in the ongoing fiscal year.

Output of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) output increased by 7.26% in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 compared to the same period last fiscal year, as almost all of the major manufacturing sectors posted growth, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) last week.

LSMI output up by 7.26pc in 2 months

Meanwhile, Pakistan's power generation went up by 7.1% YoY to 14,032 GWh (19,489 MW) during Sep'21, compared to 13,104 GWh (18,200 MW) during Sep’20, stated Arif Habib Limited in its latest report.

During 9MCY21, power generation also increased by 10.3% YoY to 107,966 GWh (16,478 MW) compared with 97,845 GWh (14,879 MW) during 9MCY20.

During September 21, fuel cost for power generation increased by 65% YoY to Rs6.80/KWh mainly due to rise in FO, coal, RLNG, and gas-based cost of generation, however, hydel-based power generation up by 4% YoY.

The report stated that RLNG-based cost of generation increased by 120 % YoY to Rs14.9/KWh due to 125% YoY rise in RLNG prices to Rs2,586/mmbtu. Coal-based cost of generation was also up by 67% YoY to Rs10.1/Kwh during September 2021 due to 182% YoY rise in coal prices.

Furnace oil base cost of generation increased by 54 % YoY to Rs19.2/KWh and gas-based cost of generation was also up by 23% YoY to Rs8.3/KWh.

Meanwhile, commenting on the industrial output and increased power generation, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said this is another sign of strong economic recovery continuing.

“The initial reports for sugarcane and cotton crop are very positive also,” he added in the tweet on Thursday.