The Permanent Power Committee of the National Assembly was informed that the Government has ceased capacity payments to 22 independent energy producers (IPP), resulting in a general savings of RS1.5 billion and is expected to provide relief to the consumers by reducing electricity costs in RS4 to RS5 per unit.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Muhammad Fakhre Alam Irfan, who informed the Committee on the cessation of capacity payments to 14 IPP based on oil and 8 IPP based on Bagazo.
The secretary also mentioned that efforts are being made to cancel additional IPP payments. It is expected that the interruption of these payments will lead to substantial savings, and consumers will benefit from lower electricity rates, he said.
Mustafa Kamal also raised concerns about some IPP claiming that her agreements were completed under coercion.
The Secretary of Energy responded by saying that several IPP had violated the terms of their contracts, and these violations were pointed out by government teams. IPP were given the option to meet or face a Financial Audit of Nepra (National Regulatory Authority of Electric Power).
In addition, he declared that two IPP refused to cooperate, which led to Nepri to initiate audits, with advertisements for audits now published for non -satisfied IPP.
The meeting also discussed a problem over the 7.8 million additional units that are loaded with Lesco consumers (Lahore Electric Supply Company). The committee decided to form a subcommittee to investigate the matter more.
The member of the Rana Mohammad Hayat committee expressed concern about increasing invoices and the increase in WAPDA expenses (water and energy development authority) in the last three or four years.
He questioned the government’s response to the growing financial burden on the public and asked to clarify when consumers will be provided. He also raised the issue of the profitability of local coal in the generation of electricity, asking for transparency with respect to possible savings.
In response, energy division officials revealed that the cost of generating electricity using local coal would be RS4 per unit, compared to RS16 per unit when imported coal is used. Electricity produced from oven oil costs between RS30 to RS32 per unit.
Kamal also questioned the long -term strategy, asking about the plans for the future if coal -based plants face operational problems, particularly when Hydel and thermal plants are eliminated in favor of coal. The Secretary of Energy assured the committee that coal plants can be installed in a short period of time.
In addition, the Energy Division is carrying out modern forecasts over the next 10 years, anticipating that many of the oven oil -based electrical plants will be dismantled in the next three years.
