The total cost of generating electricity in the country increased nearly 18%, hitting Rs7.04 KWh in December 2022 compared to Rs5.99 KWh registered in the month of November.
However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, electricity generation cost declined significantly by 14.5%.
“On a YoY basis, the decrease in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to a rise in nuclear, and solar based generation along with 14% YoY decline in coal-based cost of generation (due to the addition of local coal-based plants),” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note on Thursday.
“While on MoM basis, the rise in fuel cost is triggered by a decline in hydel and nuclear-based generation,” it added.
The power generation in the country witnessed a marginal increase of 0.6% on a monthly basis to 8,417 GWh ((11,313 MW) in December 2022, compared to 8,367 GWh in November. On a yearly basis, electricity generation registered a drop of 4.7%, as compared to 8,828 GWh (11,866 MW) recorded in December 2021.
During 1HFY23, power generation also decreased by 7.8% YoY to 68,570 GWh (15,528 MW) compared to 74,396 GWh (16,847 MW) during 1HFY22.
Moreover, the cost of power generation during the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year was up 27.8%, from Rs7.14 in 1HFY22 to Rs9.13 in 1HFY23.
Data on generation mix revealed that electricity generation decline on a yearly basis was led by coal 1,521 GWh, and Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) 39 GWh, which decreased by 27.7% and 89%, respectively.
Moreover, power generation from hydel and RLNG sources stood at 1,720 GWh and 1,154 GWh respectively, also showing a decline of 2.7% and 3.2%, respectively, on a yearly basis.
Pakistan's power cost and generation declines significantly in Nov
In December, nuclear was the leading source of power generation, accounting for 27.1% of the generation mix, to become the largest source of electricity generation in the country with 2,285 GWh, after recording a YoY increase of 47.5%.
Moreover, electricity generation from wind sources improved by 0.7% on a yearly basis to 212 GWh, while power generation from other renewable sources such as solar also witnessed a 54.4% increase on a yearly basis at 69 GWh.