Power production surges 48% in April, but load-shedding persists

Country produces highest volume of electricity with help of RLNG

KARACHI: When people will outline the achievements made during tenure of the current Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, an increase in electricity production and supply may come on top of the list.

However, load-shedding still continues to haunt consumers and disrupts life and business across the country, but with less severity.



Pakistan’s power generation shot up 48% to over 10,135.08 gigawatt-hour (GWh) in April 2018 following the start of new gas-fired, coal-fired and nuclear power plants in the recent past, according to data released by the power-sector regulator.

Power production had been recorded at 6,870.24 GWh in April last year. The addition of fresh electricity to the system has helped reduce load-shedding across industrial, commercial and residential areas.



According to details, Pakistan produced the highest volume of electricity with the help of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG)-based projects that generated 2,699.08 GWh or around 27% of total production in April 2018. This addition to the overall energy mix came mainly on the back of first three RLNG power plants in Punjab that came on line with a cumulative installed capacity of over 3,600 megawatts.



Electricity generation fuelled by domestically produced natural gas rose to 1,646.04 GWh in April 2018, which constituted 16.24% of the energy mix, said the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).

Combined power production with the help of domestic and imported gas (RLNG) stood at around 43% (4,345.12 GWh) in the energy mix in April 2018. This demonstrated a sharp increase from around 22% (1,506.90 GWh) in April last year.

Power production by coal-fired projects rose to 1,401.61 GWh or around 14% in April 2018 compared to a meagre 15.71 GWh or 0.23% in the energy mix in April 2017. The surge in production from the dirty fuel became possible after two coal-fired power projects of installed capacity of over 2,600 megawatts came on stream - one in Punjab and one in Sindh.

Nuclear power production swelled to 835.95 GWh (8.25% of the energy mix) in April 2018 from 361.78 GWh (0.50%) in April last year, which came after the start of new projects in Sindh.

Wind power production increased to 206.67 GWh (2.04%) compared to 18.64 GWh (0.27%) in April 2017. Production from this clean source rose after the launch of several 50MW power projects in Jhimpir, Sindh.

On the flip side, electricity generation with the help of oil-based projects fell to sharply lower levels as per the government’s policy. It wants to lessen reliance on the most expensive fuels - furnace oil and diesel.

In winter last year, the government had stopped the production of around 4,000MW per hour from oil-based projects, but in summer this year it returned to the expensive fuel to meet the growing demand.

Production from furnace oil dropped to 1,550.54 GWh (15.30%) in April 2018 from 2,817.61 GWh (41.01%) in April last year.

Unfortunately, hydroelectric power generation dipped to 1,527.84 GWh (15.07%) in April 2018 from 1,903.05 GWh (27.70%) in the corresponding month of last year. The drop in the cheapest and environment-friendly source of electricity may be attributed to water mismanagement.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2018.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.