ISLAMABAD: M/s Rousch (Pakistan) Power Limited ((RPPL) has reportedly accused National Power Control Centre (NPCC) of playing havoc with it by issuing despatch instructions on the one hand and asking SNGPL not to supply gas to the power plant on the other.
This was the crux of a three-page letter written by CEO RPPL Waqar Ahmad Khan to CEO CPPA-G and Managing Director PPIB, copies of which have also been sent to the concerned authorities.
According to the CEO, his communication is in respect of the “NPCC despatch instructions to RPPL” and to highlight the difficulties that the latter is currently facing vis-à-vis NPCC.
The RPPL 450 MW gas-fired Combined Cycle Plant’s (CPP) current gas arrangements are contained in the tripartite Interim Gas Supply Agreement of June 01, 2017, executed by and between RPPL, CPPA-G and Sui Northern Gas Power Limited (SNGPL). This Interim GSA was extended on July 21, 2020 and is deemed to be in effect till the time a long-term Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) is signed between SNGPL and RPPL.
The company has claimed that on April 08, 2022, NPCC issued despatch instructions to its plant for full complex demand, but then instructed SNGPL to divert allocated gas so that the quota for the company dropped to zero.
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CEO argued that it is clear that while SNGPL, under the interim GSA, has been provided the responsibility for supplying RLNG to the power sector, it is NPCC that has taken upon itself the allocation of RLNG to the relevant power plant and conveys the decision of its allocation to SNGPL.
He maintained that the company has been the recipient of despatch orders issued by NPCC when the latter itself was responsible for issuing gas allocation instructions to SNGPL to not allocate RLNG to the company’s power plant, which is contrary to the terms of the Interim GSA.
CEO further stated that the Company is dismayed to note that it appears that the issuance of such instructions by NPCC to SNGPL to curtail the supply of gas to the Company’s power plant are issued with the intent of forcing the Company to declare an Other Force Majeure Event (OFME) so that that the capacity payments to the Company can be suspended and the future liability of GoP can be kept pending to an indeterminate date.
RPPL CEO further contended that given how the actions of one entity, such as NPCC, are adversely affecting the working of other public sector entities, such as SNGPL or CPPA-G under their respective concession documents, the Company stresses the need for (a) consistency of action and (b) the obligation to act in good faith so as to lay to rest any misapprehension that the unjust actions of one party are enabling connected parties to shirk their responsibilities.
Accordingly, and in light of circumstances, RPPL has sought the support of PPIB and CPPA-G (as the latter is a party to the PPA and the Interim GSA) to ensure that NPCC, as a public functionary required to act in good faith is made aware of the following, namely: (i) issuance of despatch instructions by NPCC during those instances when the Company is not in a position to deliver energy due to the non-supply of RLNG, on the instructions of NPCC, by SNGPL, is in violation of the terms and would therefore amount to a breach by the GoP; and the support of CPPA-G and PPIB for RPPL’s view that its Complex would be deemed “available” under the PPA if the sole reason behind the Company’s inability to comply with a despatch instruction is the non-supply of available gas to the company by SNGPL as per NPCC’s own instructions. CEO RPPL’s has demanded that alternatively, NPCC should be restrained from dispatching the company’s Complex during periods when SNGPL has suspended the supply of available gas to the company in accordance with NPCC’s own instructions.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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