Power generation cost up 66% YoY in March

The cost of generating electricity has increased by 66.2% in just one year, going up to Rs9.22 kWh in March 2022 compared to Rs5.55 kWh during the same month last year.

“On YoY basis, the rise in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to rise in coal, furnace oil, re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG), nuclear and gas based cost of generation,” read a note by Arif Habib Limited (AHL) on Tuesday.

Meanwhilem the cost of hydel-based power generation has decreased by 2.1% YoY.

The power generation mix shows there was lower dependence on coal and hydel in March 2022, with Residual Fuel Oil (RFO), nuclear and wind sources of power stepping in to cover the gap.

The note shows a comparison of the fuel cost of March 2022 with the corresponding month of 2021, revealing that the generation cost of RLNG increased by 58.5% to Rs14.37 kWh from Rs9.07 kWh. Meanwhile, the generation cost of Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) hiked up 89% to Rs22.52 kWh in March 2022 from Rs11.92 kWh in the same month last year.

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Furthermore, the price of electricity generated through coal increased by 71% to Rs12.41 kWh in March 2022 as compared to Rs7.26 kWh in March 2021. Power generation went up by 16.2% YoY to 10,418 GWh (14,003 MW) during March 2022, compared to 8,965 GWh (12,049 MW) in SPLY.

During 9MFY22, power generation also increased by 10.1% YoY to 101,699 GWh (15,465 MW) compared with 92,371 GWh (14,047 MW) during 9MFY21.

Coal was the leading source of power generation, accounting for 24.8% of the generation mix with 2,587 GWH generated in March 2022, as compared to 2,734 GWh generated in the same month last year, showing a decrease of 5.4%.

Power generation from RFO increased 370.5% to 1,106 GWh in March 2022 from 235 GWh in March 2021. Generation from nuclear improved 66.3% to 1,564 GWh in March 2022, as compared to 940 GWh generated in March 2021.

Additionally, wind-based generation increased by 58% YoY to 268 GWh in March 2022.