Ministry accused of not notifying determined tariff of Discos for fiscal year 2015

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has accused Water and Power Ministry of not notifying the determined tariff of Discos for FY2014-15 due to which higher tariff of the previous year is being charged. The regulator in its annual report for 2014-15 raised different issues faced by the consumers, Discos, public sector power Generation Companies (Genco) transmission system and Independent Power producers (IPPs).
Nepra observed that performance of IPPs was somehow better than public sector Gencos. During an analysis it was found that fuel constraints (non-availability of fuel) were the main reason for poor performance of IPPs which implies that Water and Power Ministry failed to ensure fuel supply to the IPPs.
According to the report, Nepra officials' team also visited Genco-III and observed that during 2014-15 generating units are not utilised according to their capacities. For instance, dependable capacity of Thermal Power Station (TPS) Muzaffrabad unit 1-3 was 558 MW but its efficiency is 31 percent with a 49.4 percent net capacity factor. The dependable capacity of unit 4 was 270 MW with 31.1 efficiency and unit 5-6 dependable capacity is 360 MW with 28 percent efficiency and 34.7 percent net capacity factor.
Dependable capacity of GTPS Faisalabad was 144 MW with efficiency a 38 percent and 34.7 net capacity factor. Likewise, dependable capacity of SPS Faisalabad's unit-2 is 97 MW with 24 efficiency and 3.1 percent net capacity factor. Net capacity factor of GTPS Faisalabad unit 1-2 is 6.9 percent despite the fact its dependable capacity is 75 MW with 24 percent efficiency. The dependable capacity of most contentious Nandipur power project is 430 MW with a 42.16 percent efficiency; its net capacity factor was not mentioned.
Nepra also observed that the Thermal Power Station Multan, Cantt, natural gas power station, Multan and GTPS Shahdara have been deleted from licence of Genco-III(NPGCL) but these plants are retained since long without any contribution to the national grid. Installed capacity of TPS Multan was 20 MW which is now de-rated to 16 MW, GTPS Shahdara installed capacity 84 MW, de-rated 35 MW and NPGC installed capacity was 195 which has de-rated to 60 percent. Utilisation factor of these three plants was zero during the last three years.
Nepra has claimed that it sent an advisory to the Ministry of Water and Power in which it was advised that either 8 power plants ( excluding TPS Muzaffargarh and Nandipur) may be declared abandoned and disposed of or other policy decisions whichever deemed appropriate by the government, may be made about these power plants of Gencos. By reviewing the data regarding forced outages submitted by Genco-III, it was observed that the units/machines were forcedly shut down over a period of three years which shows that O&M activities are not being carried out properly by Genco-III, causing sudden tripping and a loss of power generation.
The regulator has recommended that Genco-III needs to maintain its substation and equipment/machinery in proper form in order to avoid frequent forced shutdowns. Nepra's team further observed that as part of monitoring activities, it was noted that various units of Genco-II (GPGCL) are on forced outages for more than two years due to lack of preventive maintenance of plant and equipment. It was also observed that during June 2015, only 41 percent capacity of the Genco is being utilised. In this regard CEO, Genco-II was advised by Nepra to chalk out plan for maintenance/ repair activities for off-bar units and furnish a timeline of return of each unit into operation. An advisory on declining performance of Genco-II was also sent to Secretary Water and Power to fix the responsibility of under utilisation of Genco's units since long and accordingly proceedings against the responsible may be initiated. Furthermore, a letter regarding minimum generation from Jinnah Power Plant of Wapda was sent to Chairman Wapda to conduct a detailed inquiry about delayed COD and repeated technical problems, relating to the plant.
The tariff for Discos for FY 2014-15 has been determined by Nepra with some reduction in industrial tariff. The tariff is yet to be notified. Hundreds of petitions have been filed arguing that due to non- notification a higher tariff of previous year was being charged.
Meanwhile a spokesman for Water and Power has clarified that only in case of sufficient generation available to meet the demand within the scheduled load shedding most expensive plants are kept on a standby mode so that consumers are provided relief in cost of generation which is reflected in the monthly electricity bills of non-subsidised consumers.
The spokesman further stated said that due to this merit order generation since last November 2014, the per unit price of electricity has shown regular decreases for which the Ministry issues advice to Nepra to reduce tariff every month. This has been passed on to the consumers in the shape of monthly fuel price adjustment ranging from Rs 2 to 4 per unit in their monthly bills. Had the expensive plants been used mindlessly, these savings passed on to the consumers would have been wiped out.