Power plant: Ministry reiterates Nandipur cost-efficiency

Says conversion to gas will save billions, enhance capacity

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to save billions of rupees, authorities have informed that the conversion of Nandipur power plant to gas is under way and expected to be completed by the end of April 2017.

In a statement, the Ministry of Water and Power has said that after evaluation and scrutiny of the bids, Hydro Electric Power System Engineering Company of China (HEPSEC)’ s bid was found to be the lowest out of the four bidders.

HEPSEC is a subsidiary of Power China Group, and has wide-ranging experience of providing operations and maintenance services for power plants all over the world.

The Nandipur power plant has been operational since July 2015 and currently operating on furnace oil. However, after conversion, the generation capacity of the plant will increase from 425 to 525 megawatts (MW).

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has already given the operation and maintenance (O&M) tariff for both furnace oil and gas.

Total O&M tariff allowed by Nepra on gas operation is Rs0.543/unit and the lowest bid received was at Rs0.4873/unit and thus the plant will be  saving  Rs0.0557 per kWh.

This will provide additional room to the GENCO to cover any unforeseen expenses. On RFO operation, Nepra has allowed Rs0.697/unit O&M costs, while bid price was Rs0.8595/unit.

Total O&M cost allowed by Nepra on gas operation is Rs2.113 billion per year and the contracted amount is Rs1.896 billion, which will provide positive cash flows. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2017.

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