Tag Archives: NEPRA

NEPRA, Fed govt to probe Karachi power breakdown separately!

on 18/10/2018

NEPRA-The federal government and the power regulator have ordered separate probes into electricity breakdowns in Karachi and adjoining areas on Oct 2.

In a statement, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) said it had taken a serious notice of another major blackout in the city on Oct 2 and `directed K-Electric to immediately provide a detailed report.

The regulator has also `raised serious concern on the prevailing situation in respect of poor performance of KE`s distribution network` and believed the company was not investing to improve its transmission and distribution network as tripping was getting frequent.

Therefore, KE management has been directed to provide the detailed report regarding the said power breakdown along with preventive and corrective steps taken by it.

The hours-long power breakdown most areas including Defence, Clifton, Gadap, Saddar, Uthal, Korangi as well as pockets in Johar, Landhi, Nazimabad, Garden, Layari etc.

On top of that, the regulator said a number of consumers complained that company`s call centre officials were not entertaining complaints despite several attempts.

Minister of Power Ayub Khan said `prevailing issue of tripping in main transmission lines in the areas of K-Electric and other coastal regions is due to adverse weather conditions.

He said the high moisture in coastal areas caused technical faults in the main transmission lines which ultimately led to power outage in Karachi, Thatha and Badin. The minister directed authorities to investigate the matter in detail to see if any preventive maintenance was carried out by both NTDC and KE. `Strict action will be taken against officials if it is established that the issue was caused due to any negligence,` he added.

Ayub asked the concerned authorities to immediately prepare proposal for replacement of insulators and carry out maintenance work so that the issue may not arise again.

Reacting to Nepra, KE said it will submit its response in due course along with all relevant facts. Its spokesperson Khayyam Siddiqi confirmed that localised tripping due to high humidity levels occurred in the early hours Oct 2 which caused partial power interruption for few hours.

Separately, he said the company also had to resort to forced load management of up to an hour in loadshedding-exempt areas as power supply to KE from the national grid remained restricted due to technical reasons that day.

Pakistan lags far behind- Alternate Energy costlier than Thermal power!

on 04/05/2017

Federal Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif has admitted that a few solar and wind based IPPs are producing electricity at Rs18 per kilowatt hour. Alternate Energy is known as one of the most economical source of power generation in the world but in Pakistan some of the alternate energy projects are even costlier than the thermal power plants. In a written reply to the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif wrote that Appolo Solar Development limited, Best Green Energy Pak. Ltd, Crest Energy Pak Ltd were generating electricity at the cost of Rs18.04 per kilowatt hour. He said the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park has been granted tariff of Rs19.52 for every kwh while wind power projects Younas Energy and Tapal were charging Rs18.42 and Rs18.44 for every unit of electricity. The cost of producing electricity from hydel was Rs1.88 during 2015-16 when some of the above power plants were granted a generous tariff by National Electricity Power Regulatory Authority. According to the NEPRA’s tariff in 2016, the tariff for power generation from High Speed Diesel was Rs11.78, Furnace Oil Rs5.25, Gas Rs6.03, and Power Generation cost from nuclear was Rs1.15 per kwh. All the projects under the CPEC are also under IPP mode and each project has or would be awarded individual tariff. Some of the projects will increase cost of total energy mix by providing them high tariff and end consumer would have to pay for costlier electricity in the near future.

Approval from CCI obligatory for Regulatory bodies notification

on 01/03/2017

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended a notification by the federal government transferring administrative control of five regulatory bodies to their respective line ministries. LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that the prime minister should have sought approval from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) before issuing the notification. The government had issued the notification on Dec 19, placing the control of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) under their respective ministries. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf secretary general Jahangir Tareen and a citizen, All Irfan, had filed identical petitions in this regard. Advocate Sheraz Zaka, the lead counsel for the petitioners, argued that under the law it was mandatory for the government to seek an approval from the CCI before transferring the control of autonomous regulatory authorities to their respective ministries. He said that in many judgements the Supreme Court had declared approval from the CCI a mandatory provision for this purpose. Advocate Zaka pointed out that on the one hand the government was involved in the production and transmission of electricity, and on the other, it wanted to assume the role of a regulator. Similarly, he said, placing the PTA and the FAB under the control of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, the PPRA under the Ministry of Finance and Ogra under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, was a case involving conflict of interest. The lawyer requested the court to set aside the notification. A deputy attorney general argued that approval of the CCI was not necessary as the cabinet had approved the measure. In his remarks, Chief Justice Shah said that the rule of law was indispensable as the prime minister should have sought approval of the CCI before issuing the notification. He suspended the notification and asked the attorney general for Pakistan to appear at the next hearing.

Pakistan may overcome load shedding by 2018ADB expresses satisfaction with govt power policy

on 01/03/2017

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed its hope that Pakistan would be able to overcome load shedding by 2018—A claim made by the government and yet many people are not sure about it. The bank, however, seems satisfied about government’s power policy. ADB Country Head Werner E Liepach who talked to a group of journalists said he was hopeful that Pakistan could end load shedding by 2018 provided the government continued its effort to achieve the goal. Werner E Liepach’s remarks have bolstered the image of the government as regards its promises to eliminate load-shedding. The ADB official sees things were moving in the right direction saying the capacity has increased and thus conditions have improved over the past few years. The bank, however, supported independent regulatory regime unlike the government which has put regulatory bodies under its control. He said the NEPRA was still independent in its decisions and an effective, efficient and independent regulatory regime helped the end consumer. The ADB has approved US$3 billion for the energy sector. The bank is providing $400 million for smart metering, which would improve efficiency of the companies. On privatisation of the DisCos, he said the ADB had asked for privatisation as it would increase efficiency, help reduce the circular debt and bring investment.