National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday approved a refund of Rs 34 billion to the consumers of power Distribution Companies (Discos) under monthly fuel adjustment mechanism for January 2018. The decision was taken at a public hearing presided over by the Chairman Nepra, Brigadier Tariq Saddozai (retired) on a petition filed by the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guaranteed (CPPA-G) . Member Nepra, KPK, Hamayat Ullah Khan and Member Sindh Syed Masood ul Hasan Naqvi accompanied the Chairman.
The impact of Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) has been calculated at Rs 3.24 per unit, half of which will be passed on to consumers who use above 300 units monthly as consumers using up to 300 units are not eligible for the refund. Likewise, agriculture consumers and KE's consumers are not eligible for this refund.
The CPPA had filed a petition requesting a reduction of Rs 2.97 per unit on account of fuel adjustment. The CPPA-G filed a petition before the power regulator for a tariff cut on behalf of ex-Wapd a distribution companies. In its petition, the CPPA-G reported that it charged consumers a reference tariff of Rs 9.8670 per unit in January against the actual fuel cost of Rs 6.8889per unit.
Chairman Nepra said Nepra had projected 2 per cent generation on High Speed Diesel (HSD) but the government did not run HSD- based plants, which was one of the reasons for reduction in FCA. The financial impact of this decision was Rs 3.1 billion. The second major reason was the forecast of 48 percent furnace oil based generation but the government received only 21 per cent electricity from furnace oil fired power plants. The main reason for the saving was better use of energy mix.
In the past, there was higher use of high speed diesel in power plants and consumers were burdened with paying for the extra cost. Member KPK asked representative of National Power Control Centre (NPCC) if there is any policy to run small power plants which fall in the category of mixed generation; and was told there is not.
The Authority directed NPCC to look into running mixed energy power plants on the base of economic merit order. The mixed energy plants are small plants of sugar, cement, textile mills etc. The case officer informed the Authority that NTDC has reported losses of 3.453 per cent but when the regulator takes it on accumulated basis, it is 2.897 per cent against allowed losses of 2.8 per cent. The Authority had allowed accumulated losses of 4 per cent per annum at 500 KV and 220 KV. CPPA-G claimed losses of 3.41 per cent whereas the date provided by NTDCL showed T&T losses of 260.04GWh ie 3,453 per cent during January 2018. But the cumulative losses of NTDCL from August 2017 till January 2018 worked out at 2.807 per cent which are higher than the allowed threshold of 2.8 per cent.
The NTDC representative requested the Authority to allow losses of 2.897 per cent for January, 2018 and adjust them at the end of the year. However, the Authority did not entertain the request of NTDC.
According to the CPPA-G, about 7982.32 GWh (Gigawatt hours) were generated in January and 7698.86 GWh delivered to distribution companies due to higher transmission and distribution losses of 3.41% (Rs 0.24 per unit). It said the share of hydropower production in the overall energy mix in January dropped to 7.60 per cent due to closure of canals. Wind and solar plants together contributed about 0.92 % and 0.69 % energy respectively at no fuel cost.
The power generation from furnace oil-based power plants was 20.43 per cent at a cost of Rs 10.42 per unit. Natural gas-based generation was 23.2% at a cost of Rs 4.63per unit. The generation from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) also contributed 20.08 % to the overall power supply at a rate of Rs 9.24 per unit.
The overall energy contribution from coal was 14.34 and its fuel cost of generation stood at Rs 5.19per unit. The share of imported electricity from Iran contributed around 0.48 per cent at a cost of Rs 11.05 per unit.
The CPPA said total energy was generated at a total cost of Rs 48.57billion or Rs 6.08 per unit, while 3.41% less power was supplied to distribution companies at a cost of Rs 53.03 billion or Rs 6.8889per unit. The CPPA had requested to make previous adjustment of Rs 4.63 billion or Rs 0.58 per unit on account of supplemental charges.