ISLAMABAD - The Ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (XWDiscos) have sought an increase of around Rs 5 per unit in tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for the month of February, 2024.
In a petition submitted to National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, on behalf of Ex-Wapda Discos (XWDiscos), the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) said that the reference fuel charged from the consumers during February was Rs 4.4337 per unit, while the cost of the energy delivered to Discos was Rs 9.4254 per unit. Thus, it requested an increase of Rs 4.9917 per unit over the reference charges on account of FCA for the month.
The increase also includes the previous adjustments of Re 0.5484 per unit. The petition if accepted in full by Nepra, will burden the electricity consumers with an additional burden of over Rs 40 billion (FCA+GST). To consider the petition, NEPRA will conduct public hearing on 28th March 2024. The breakdown of the data reveals varying costs across different generation sources, ranging from Rs. 1.3213 per unit for nuclear to Rs. 27.1968 per unit for electricity imported from Iran.
No electricity was generated from high speed diesel and furnace oil, which has resulted in lower cost of the generation during February. The CPPA, in its application, has submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of February was recorded at 7,130 GWh (giga watt per hour), at a price of Rs 8.6950 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs 61,996 million.
According the petition, 6,876 GWh at Rs 64,804 million had been delivered to Discos with 3.16 per cent as transmission losses. The generation in February fell by 14.24 percent from the January generation of 8,314 GWh. The generation cost during February dropped over the previous month (Jan 2024, unit cost of Rs13.7885), the generation cost in February 2024 fell by 37 percent. The data reveals that power generation from hydel source was 1766 GWh in February, constituting 24.77 per cent with zero cost of power generation. The generation cost of imported coal, local gas, and imported RLNG in February was lower than last month. Per-unit power generation cost from imported coal declined by 3.93 percent in February 2024 to Rs20.22 per unit from Rs21.05 per unit in the previous month.
The local coal generation cost fell by 9.96 percent to Rs12.3794 per unit from Rs13.7486 per unit in January 2024. From local coal, power generation was down by 27.6 percent to 994 GWh from 1,373 GWh in the previous month. From imported coal, the generation in February 2024 declined by 76.56 percent to 135 GWh from 576 GWh in January 2024. The electricity generated with local gas was 787 GWh (11.04pc) at Rs. 12.3794 per unit. RLNG based 1450 GWh or 20.33 per cent electricity was generated at Rs. 24.2952 per unit during the month. RLNG-based generation in February 2024 declined by 4.23 percent from 1,514 GWh in January. The RLNG per unit generation cost was Rs22.026 per unit, which was 9.3 percent cheaper than the previous month’s cost of Rs24.295 per unit. Likewise, 1,660 GWh or 23.29 per cent power generation was from nuclear based plants at Rs. 1.3213 per unit, and imported Iranian energy cost Rs. 27.1968 per unit during February. Generation from nuclear sources reduced by 3.93 percent from January 2024’s generation of 1,728 GWh. Power generation from bagasse was 101 GWh in February. Bagasse has contributed 1.41 per cent to the national grid at Rs 5.9822 per unit. The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 108 GWh, 1.53 per cent of total generation and solar 90 GWh or 1.26 per cent of the total generation in February 2024.