The total cost of generating electricity in the country witnessed a slight increase of 2.6%, clocking in at Rs8.22 KWh in March 2023 compared to Rs8.01 KWh registered in the month of February.

However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, electricity generation cost declined by nearly 11%.

“On a YoY basis, the decrease in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to a rise in nuclear, hydel, and solar-based generation along with a 30% YoY decline in coal-based cost of generation,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note on Wednesday.

“On a MoM basis, the rise in fuel cost is triggered by a decline in hydel-based generation,” it added.

Meanwhile, total power generation in the country witnessed a significant increase of 12.7% on a monthly basis to 8,741 GWh (11,749 MW) in March 2023, compared to 7,756 GWh in February. On a yearly basis, it fell 16.1%, down from to 10,418 GWh in March 2022.

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When looking at the first nine months of the 2022-23 financial year, power generation decreased by 8% YoY to 93,582 GWh (14,231 MW) compared to 101,699 GWh a year prior.

Moreover, the cost of power generation during the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year was up 15.2%, from Rs7.94 in 9MFY22 to Rs9.14 in 9MFY23.

Data on generation mix revealed that electricity generation decline on a yearly basis was led by coal 1,334 GWh, and Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) 41 GWh, which decreased by 48.4% and 96.3%, respectively.

Power generation from hydel and nuclear sources stood at 2,002 GWh each respectively, showing an increase of 17.5% and 28%, respectively, on a yearly basis.

In March, nuclear and hydel emerged as the leading sources of power generation, accounting for 46% of the generation mix combined.

Moreover, electricity generation from renewable sources including solar improved by 61.1% on a yearly basis to 111 GWh, while generation from other renewable sources such as wind declined by 17.4% on a yearly basis to 221 GWh.