ISLAMABAD

The much delayed 525 MW Nandipur Power Plant which went out of order soon after its inauguration in May this year has again resumed its generation by supplying 430 MW to the national grid system.
Official sources told APP here Tuesday, the power plant was being run on furnace oil. The plant would generate 525 MW after being run on gas and the conversion would take around five months.
The sources said that RLNG would also be available for Nandipur shortly resulting in generation of much cheaper electricity from the plant. The project was conceived to be run on natural gas but it was decided to make it a dual fuel plant as financiers were not ready to invest in a single fuel plant, they said.
The sources said that the project was conceived and approved during military dictator Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf regime. However, during the tenure of the previous federal government, the project was delayed for about four years resulting in surge in its cost from $329 million to $847 million. They said that despite so many constraints, the project was completed within its estimated approved PC-1 cost of Rs 58 billion.
The sources said that plant successfully completed test run but later was shut down due to cancellation of Operation and Maintenance agreement with a Malaysian firm.
They said that the Nandipur power plant was the second most efficient thermal power plant after 747 MW Guddu power plant.
The sources said that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had approved Rs 11.3 per unit tariff for the Nandipur Power Project for generation of electricity from furnace oil.
But GENCO-III has already submitted request with Nepra to increase the already decided tariff as some costs were not considered by the authority while determining its tariff.
It is pertinent to mention here that keeping in view the energy crisis in the country, soon after coming into power, the incumbent government started work on the project and completed it within its stipulated time period.