The total cost of generating electricity in the country jumped nearly 46%, hitting Rs9.91 KWh in September 2022 compared to Rs6.80 KWh registered in the same month last year.

However, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, electricity generation cost declined marginally by 1.5%.

“On a MoM basis, the decrease in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to a rise in wind and solar-based generation,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note on Monday.

“In addition to this, coal and furnace oil-based costs of generation declined by 12% MoM and 3% MoM, respectively,” it added.

Moreover, power generation went down by 8.2% on a yearly basis to 12,878 GWh (17,886 MW) in September 2022, compared to 14,032 GWh (19,489 MW) in the same month last year. On a monthly basis, electricity generation also registered a drop of 8.4%, as compared to 14,053 GWh.

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During 1QFY23, power generation also recorded a drop of 10.3% YoY to 41,081 GWh (18,606 MW), in comparison to 45,790 GWh (20,738 MW) during 1QFY22.

Data on generation mix revealed that electricity generation decline on a yearly basis was led by coal 1,449 GWh, and Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) 1,821 GWh, which decreased by 39.4% and 31.3%, respectively.

Moreover, power generation from hydel and gas sources stood at 4,404 GWh and 1,449 GWh respectively, also showing a YoY decline of 13.4% and 3.4%, respectively, on a yearly basis.

In September, hydel was the leading source of power generation, accounting for 34.2% of the generation mix. Whereas, power generation from nuclear improved to 17.6%, after recording a YoY increase of 76.7% at 2,266 GWh.

Moreover, electricity generation from wind sources improved significantly by 102.6%, as the renewable source share in the power generation mix increased to 3.6% in September 2022, in comparison to 1.6% in the same month last year.