ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has expressed displeasure over the poor performance of government’s power generation system, saying that even a seven per cent capacity addition failed to increase proportionate electricity output last year.

In its State of the Industry Report 2015, Nepra said the power generation capacity increased by about 7pc during the year ending June 2015 but the power output rose only 3.6pc, almost half of the capacity addition. It declared the performance of all the four public sector generation companies as unsatisfactory.

However, the performance of private power producers, hydropower generation by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and nuclear power plants was found to be satisfactory during the year.

Nepra also expressed displeasure that power generated by some of the private plants was facing dispersal problems because of failure of the public sector companies to construct transmission lines; the plants were there but the system could not utilise them.

The report said the installed generation capacity of the National Transmission And Despatch Company’s (NTDC) system on June 30, 2015 stood at 22,928 megawatts against 21,424MW a year ago, reflecting an increase of 7pc.

The capacity addition came from Guddu (747MW) and Nandipur (425MW) power plants. Another 320MW came from solar, wind and bagasse-based plants.

However, the power plants connected with the NTDC’s system generated 97,284 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy during 2014-15, a rise of 3.6pc compared to 93,903 GWh in 2013-14.

HYDROPOWER: The installed capacity of Wapda hydropower plants remained static at 6,902MW in 2014 and 2015 but output was slightly better in 2014-15 by 221 GWh. “The availability and overall performance of hydropower plants have also remained satisfactory during the 2014-15,” the report said.

Nepra said the government could not make any addition to the installed capacity of 1,024 MW of Jamshoro Power Company (Genco-I power stations) at the end of June 2015 from a year ago. Genco-I has a dependable capacity of 830MW. It generated energy of 2,961 GWh during the 2014-15, down by 6pc.

Net electrical efficiency of Genco-I during 2014-15 stood at 28pc. With a capacity utilisation of 46pc due to forced outages and various maintenance issues, the overall performance of Genco-I “has not been satisfactory”.

Likewise, the total installed capacity of the Central Power Generation Company Limited (Genco-II) as of June 2015 was 2,437MW, while the capacity available for generation, ie the dependable capacity, was 1,952MW.

During 2014- 15, the installed capacity of Genco-II increased by 747MW, or 44pc, due to the addition of Guddu power plant. The energy generated by Genco-II during the 2014-15 has been recorded at 5,610 GWh, about 26pc higher than the previous year.

It was, however, observed that various units of Genco-II have been off bar for more than two years due to various maintenance issues, forced outages, fuel constraints and rehabilitation activities, and were not fully utilised. “With annual efficiency of 33.95pc and capacity utilisation of only 32.43pc, the overall performance of Genco-II has been unsatisfactory”.

Also, the total installed capacity of the Northern Power Generation Company Limited (Genco-III) as of June 2015 was 2,151MW, while the capacity available for generation was only 1,925MW.

During 2014- 15, the installed capacity of Genco-III rose 22pc (425 MW) year-on-year due to the addition of Nandipur power plant. The energy generated by Genco-III during 2014-15 was 4,627 GWh, a fall of 13pc compared to 5,307 GWh in 2013-14.

Here too, it was observed that various units of Genco-III remained off bar since long due to their poor efficiency levels. The overall net efficiency of Genco-III was also very low at 25pc. Furthermore, due to various maintenance issues, forced outages, fuel constraints, etc, resulting in annual capacity utilisation of only 38pc, “the overall performance of Genco-III cannot be termed as satisfactory”.

The installed capacity of Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited (Genco-IV) stood at 150MW, while the capacity available for generation was only 30MW. It had three units of 50MW but due to the lack of proper maintenance and cannibalisation, only one unit was in working condition though at a reduced level for the past few of years.

The company generated 102 GWh in 2014-15. It may be noted that, against the installed capacity of 150MW, one-third capacity of Genco-IV is available for generation, which also was not being fully utilised due to forced outages. With net efficiency of a lowly 18pc, the overall performance of Genco-IV remained unsatisfactory.

Nepra said that although the total installed capacity of Gencos’ power plants increased by 1,172MW during 2014-15, the impact had yet to be reflected in their performance.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016