Pakistan’s Hydel Power Production Was At an All-Time High Last Month

Pakistan’s hydro-electric power generation hit a historic high at 5,668 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in August 2019.

According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra)’s statistics for last month, hydel power production had a significant contribution to the country’s total energy mix.

Industry experts are welcoming this achievement for various reasons:

1. It is a renewable energy source.
2. It produces cheap electricity.
3. It reduces the burden on the country’s import bill.
4. It slashes the production cost by 13% to Rs. 4.83 per unit.

The improvement in hydroelectric power production has been possible due to persistent rain and induction of new plants into the system including Neelum-Jhelum and Tarbela Dam’s 4th Extension project, Rao Amir Ali an industry expert said.

According to him, the share of hydroelectric power in the total electricity generation touched an all-time at 40% in August. Last month’s overall power generation was 14,052 GWh as compared to 14,017 GWh August 2018. The expert added,

During the month, the share of hydel power generation rose to 40% compared to 32% in August 2018. In addition to this, the share of coal-based generation (another cheap source) increased to 13% compared to 10% in August 2018.

High hydel power production also reduces reliance on oil-based power production, which dropped to 4% compared to 12% last year.

The government is making efforts to reduce its reliance expensive and pollution-causing energy sources such as oil and coal. It has formulated a plan to gradually shift to cheaper, cleaner, and renewable energy sources.