MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

ISLAMABAD: The Central Power Purchasing Agency- Guaranteed (CPPA-G) has sought 63 paisa per unit increase in tariffs of power Distribution Companies (Discos) for July 2018 under monthly fuel price adjustment mechanism.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) is scheduled to hear tariff petition of CPPA-G on July 29, 2018, to be presided by Nepra chairman or vice chairman.

The CPPA, in its petition, said it has purchased 10.74 GWh electricity generated on High Speed Diesel (HSD) in July 2018 at a cost of Rs 12.8538 per unit. The total generation from hydel sources was 3,891.5 GWh accounting for just 28.30 per cent of total generation.

The CPPA purchased 1,283.76 GWh electricity produced on Residual Fuel Oil (RFO), 9.34 per cent of total generation at a cost of Rs 13.5532 per unit whereas the cost of electricity generated by using indigenous gas was Rs 5.0246 per unit and its total share in electricity generation was 2,045 GWh accounting for 14.87 per cent of total generation during the entire month. The electricity generated from RLNG was 3,370.24 GWh making it 24.51 per cent of total generation at a cost of Rs 9.7210 per unit. The coal-fired power generation was 1,736.77 GWh, 12.63 per cent of total generation at a cost of Rs 6.0323 per unit.

Nuclear power plants generated 735.65 GWh of electricity at a rate of Rs 0.9523 per unit, cheapest amongst all fuels. The electricity imported from Iran was 28.39 89 GWh at a price of Rs 11.57 per unit. The 99.86 GWh was generated through bagasse at a cost of Rs 6.1832 and 428.92 GWh and 61.52 GWh was purchased from wind and solar, respectively.

According to the petition, total energy generated in July 2018 was 13,750.83 GWh at a total price of Rs 73.098.27 billion. The net electricity delivered to power distribution companies was 13,397.17 GWh at a cost of Rs 75.120 billion and tariff Rs 5.6072 per unit. Out of total delivered electricity, losses stood at 2.5 per cent (343.12 GWh at a cost of Rs 0.1442 per unit).

CPPA-G has also sought Rs 2.250 billion in the name of previous adjustment/supplemental charges. It is not clear if Nepra will accept the request of CPPA-G.

After sharing entire generation data and including Rs 2.250 billion supplemental charges, CPPA has sought an increase of 62.61 paisa per unit for July 2018 over the reference fuel charges i.e. Rs 4.9811 per unit estimated in 2015-16.