The Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G) has sought an increase of around Rs. 5 per unit in the power tariff on account of the monthly fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for February 2022.
Following a surge of Rs. 5.94 per unit from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for the monthly FCA for January 2022, the CPPA has submitted another petition seeking another huge hike of Rs. 4.994 per unit for February.
The CPPA-G said in a petition to the NEPRA on behalf of the power distribution companies (XWDISOCs) that the reference fuel charges for the consumers for February were Rs. 4.2516 per unit while the actual fuel cost was Rs 9.1957 per unit. It reasoned that the NEPRA should approve the increase of Rs. 4.994 per unit to the consumers.
The total electricity produced in February was reduced to 8,087 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 8,797-gigawatt hours (GWh) in January. Hydel generation increased from 5.83 percent in January to 18.22 percent and contributed 1473.76 GWh of electricity to the national grid.
The CCPA-G also claimed that the generation of electricity from coal power plants in February dipped to 31.70 percent (2563.87 GWh) from 33.15 percent in January. Also, the cost per unit of coal-generated electricity was Rs 13.0944 per unit.
Furnace oil-based power plants generated 6.51 percent (526.73 GWh) of electricity, down from 14.07 percent in January; and the cost of Residual Furnace Oil (RFO) -based electricity was Rs. 21.4564 per unit.
The share of electricity generated from imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) stood at 15.16 percent (1226.01 GWh), up from 7.12 percent in January, and the cost of RLNG-based electricity was Rs. 14.3229 per unit.
Electricity generation from local gas decreased to 11.36 percent (918.40 GWh) in February from 14.37 percent during the preceding month. The cost of local gas-based generation was Rs. 8.1826 per unit.
Furthermore, nuclear fuel contributed 12.53 percent of the total generation at Rs. 1.1320 per unit, wind contributed 2.02 percent, and bagasse added 1.22 percent of electricity.
Electricity imported from Iran contributed 0.42 percent at the rate of Rs. 15.6885 per unit — the highest-ever rate of electricity Pakistan has imported from the country. Additionally, the share of solar power was 0.72 percent.
Meanwhile, K-Electric (KE) has also sought an increase of Rs. 3.452 per unit in the power tariff for the monthly FCA for February 2022. It also petitioned the NEPRA, claiming that the increase will have an impact of Rs 3.950 billion on the consumers.
The NEPRA will conduct a public hearing of the CPPA’s petition on 31 March and KE’s petition will be heard on 4 April.
