ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has increased Discos’ tariffs by Paisa 8 per unit for September 2022 under monthly FCA mechanism.
The Authority conducted a public hearing on October 26, 2022. CPPA-G had sought positive adjustment of Paisa 20 per unit.
The positive adjustment shall be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed in the month of September 2022. Discos shall reflect the fuel charges adjustment in respect of September 2022 in the billing month of November 2022.
Nepra Member (Sindh), Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, in his dissenting note stated that the three most efficient RLNG power plants in Pakistan Power Sector with efficiency above 61% are the Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power Plant (QATPL), and two power plants of National Power Parks Management Company Limited at Haveli Bahadur Shah (HBS) and Baloki.
The utilization factors of these three most efficient RLNG power plants were: QATPL around (54.06%), HBS around (45.11%) and Baloki around (69.84%) during the month of September, 2022. It is noted that the accumulated claim by these power plants against part load operation is Rs 3.147 billion. The full utilization of these power plants could minimize the load shedding on one hand while on the other hand it could help avoid load charges of Rs 3.147 billion.
As per the data submitted by NPCC, the average RLNG allocated to power sector during the month of September, 2022 was 415 MMCFD against demand of 800 MMCFD that resulted in indicative financial impact of Rs. 3.047 billion during the aforesaid month. Efforts should be made to improve the supply chain of RLNG to fully utilize the most efficient RLNG power plants and avoid load adjustment charges.
The utilization factor of power plants at Central Power Generation Company Limited (CPGCL), including the newly commissioned Guddu 747 machine, remained very low despite availability of dedicated cheaper gas. Forced outage of unit 16 (249 MW) of Guddu 747 and Guddu old units 6, 10, 11, 12 & 13 (565 MW) resulted in financial losses due to operation of costlier power plants.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022