NEPRA to make Competitive Wholesale Electricity Market operational by April 2022

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved the Detailed Design and Implementation Plan of Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) to make the competitive Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) operational in Pakistan by April 2022.

NEPRA will be conducting a webinar on Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) on Tuesday, 22nd December 2020 at 4 pm to discuss the future of WEM in Pakistan. NEPRA plans on disseminating and developing stakeholder understanding with regards to WEM and informs participants about power market reforms, challenges and reforms through this webinar.

The key speakers of the webinar include Tauseef H. Farooqi, Chairperson NEPRA, Roberto D’ Addario, MRC Consultants CPPA-G, Beatriz Arizu, Expat Consultant NEPRA and Omar Haroon Malik, Head of Strategy and Market Development CPPA-G. The session will be moderated by Gul Hassan Bhutto, Consultant CTBCM NEPRA.

The main objective of the Wholesale Electricity Market is to introduce competition while providing non-discriminatory open access for all market participants and bring transparency, predictability and credibility in the power market and improve efficiency arising from ‘competition in market’ and ‘competition for the market.’

The Implementation Plan, as approved by NEPRA, entails actions ranging from institutional restructuring and strengthening to developing and augmenting legal, policy and regulatory frameworks.

A Statement from NEPRA also explains that the competitive Wholesale Electricity Market, once implemented, will also contribute in improving security of supply, enhancing efficiency, and improving payment discipline. This will also result in a move away from the historical sovereign guarantees-based regime with gradual transition from ‘take or pay’ to ‘take and pay’ contracts.