Power generation in the country went down by 16 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to 12,284 gigawatts per hour (GWh) in May 2023.
Solar generation is up 38 percent YoY, while fuel costs for power generation decreased by 26.1 percent YoY to an average of Rs. 9.72/KWh in May 2023, compared to an average cost of Rs. 13.15/KWh last year.
According to data by Arif Habib Limited (AHL), power generation was down 10.4 percent YoY to 115,876 GWh during the first 11 months of the financial year 2022-23, compared to 129,317 GWh in the same period last year.
Major contributors during May 2023 were Hydel (share: 27 percent), RLNG (share: 24.3 percent), Coal (share: 16.8 percent), and Nuclear (share: 12.6 percent).
Hydel power generation is down by 7.8 percent YoY from 3,591 GWh in May 2022 to 3,312 GWh in May 2023. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, hydel generation is up 76.9 percent. For the period 11MFY23, it is down 0.5 percent YoY.
RLNG-based power generation decreased by 10.9 percent YoY to 2,988 GWh in May 2023 from 3,355 GWh last year but is up by 23.6 percent compared to 2,418 GWh in April.
Coal-based power generation increased by 2.1 percent YoY to 2,061 GWh in May 2023 from 2,018 GWh last year. On an MoM basis, coal-based power output surged by 13.4 percent in May from 1,819 GWh in April.
Nuclear power generation decreased by 18.4 percent YoY to 1,543 GWh in May, down from 1,890 GWh last year, while monthly nuclear power generation shows a decrease of 19.5 percent from 1,916 GWh observed the previous month.
As of May, solar-based generation is up 38 percent YoY from 90 GWh last year to 124 GWh today. During 11MFY23, it surged by 38.5 percent YoY to 968 GWh from 699 GWh in 11MFY22.
Fuel Cost
During May 2023, fuel costs for power generation decreased by 26.1 percent YoY and 5.1 percent MoM, respectively, to an average of Rs. 9.72/kWh, compared to an average cost of Rs. 10.24/kWh in April. For 11MFY23, fuel costs are up 6.1 percent YoY with an average cost of Rs. 9.30/kWh, compared to Rs. 8.76/kWh in 11MFY22.
The cost of production based on imported Iranian fuel increased by 24.1 percent YoY to Rs. 23.53 per unit. RLNG was the priciest fuel with a fuel cost of Rs. 24.46 per unit.
