ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Tauseef H Farooqi, said on Tuesday that one of the key reasons for power load-shedding in the country is a scarcity of foreign exchange to import fuel as Pakistan’s 63 per cent generation is based on imported fuels.
He was responding to questions from Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Power regarding prolonged forced load shedding in the country in the summer.
Senior Joint Secretary, Power Division, Alam Zeb Khan, who was alone from Power Division to face angry Senators, claimed that the electricity shortfall is over 8,000 MW.
However, Chairman Nepra noted that Pakistan’s installed capacity is 43,775 MW. The country’s current demand is 27,000, whereas generation is 21,000 – 22,000 MW, which implies that the shortfall is between 5000-6,000 MW.
He said 30,000 MW had been transmitted through the system, and with new transmission lines from south to north, the capacity to transmit electricity has further improved.
Giving reasons for the load shedding, Chairman Nepra said that Pakistan’s 63 per cent generation is based on imported fuel, but the government does not have enough dollars to import fuel. Currently, the generation cost is Rs 33 per unit. The electricity cost of RLNG-fired power plants is Rs 24 or Rs 24.5 per unit.
He further contended that when the price of imported fuel is increased by 10 per cent, and if the rupee-dollar parity is 280, it implies that the cost of imported fuel generation has increased by 20 per cent. He further stated that electricity prices have increased over 100 per cent over the last year.
