The total cost of generating electricity in the country declined by 9%, hitting Rs9.02 KWh in October 2022 compared to Rs9.91 KWh in September.

However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, electricity generation cost declined marginally by 3%.

“On YoY basis, the decline in fuel cost is witnessed after 22 months,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note on Friday.

“On a YoY basis, the decrease in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to a rise in hydel, nuclear, wind, and solar-based generation.

“On a MoM basis, the decline in fuel cost is triggered by a decline in coal (-2% MoM), RFO (-3% MoM), RLNG (-7% MoM), and gas (-1% MoM) based cost of generation."

Moreover, power generation went down by 5.2% YoY to 10,705 GWh (14,388 MW) during October, compared to 11,296 GWh (15,183 MW) during the same month last year.

On a monthly basis, generation also decreased by 16.9%, as compared to 12,878 GWh in September.

During 4MFY23, power generation decreased by 9.3% YoY to 51,786 GWh (17,543 MW) compared to 57,086 GWh (19,338 MW) during 4MFY22.

Pakistan's power generation cost up nearly 46% YoY in Sep as production declines 210

Data on generation mix revealed that electricity generation decline on a yearly basis was led by Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) 1,844 GWh, coal 1,657 GWh, and Residual Furnace Oil (RFO) 157 GWh, which decreased by 31.8%, 12.2% and 87.3%, respectively.

Moreover, power generation from hydel and gas sources stood at 3,144 GWh and 1,296 GWh respectively, showing a YoY increase of 19.7% and 18.6%, respectively, on a yearly basis.

In October, hydel was the leading source of power generation, accounting for 29.4% of the generation mix. Whereas, power generation from nuclear improved to 20.6%, after recording a YoY increase of 58.4% at 2,206 GWh.

Moreover, electricity generation from wind sources improved significantly by 20.3%, as the renewable source share in the power generation mix increased to 3.2% in October 2022, in comparison to 2.3% in the same month last year.