ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has expressed concerns over a 10 per cent decline in Karachi’s industrial power consumption and has asked K-Electric and National Grid to have additional interconnection for better utilisation of cheaper electricity.

Sindh Member (Technical) Rafique Ahmed Shaikh has written a special note to K-Electric, National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and the federal government to look into the matter.

He noted that overall electricity sales in KE declined by 6.6pc in December 2024 year-on-year. Industrial sales, in particular, fell by 5.7pc compared to December 2023 and experienced a significant 9.7pc decrease compared to November 2024. “This sharp decline in industrial demand requires immediate attention from stakeholders”, he wrote.

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Again in December 2024, KE’s power plants contributed 19pc to its energy mix, while purchases from other Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Captive Power Plants (CPPs) accounted for 7pc, and NTDC supplied 74pc of the total electricity to KE. Notably, the generation cost within the NTDC system is significantly lower at Rs9.60/kWh, compared to KE’s generation cost of Rs18.63/kWh.

With NTDC possessing surplus generation capacity and its facilities close to KE, Mr Shaikh emphasised that KE and NTDC needed to prioritise and accelerate the interconnection works and studies between their systems.

In the current interconnection arrangement, KE’s power drawl capacity from NTDC is limited to approximately 1,600MW. However, in December 2024, KE’s actual drawl from NTDC averaged 985MW (62pc of the available capacity). This less drawl pushed out-of-merit generation from KE’s power fleet, leading to inefficiencies and underutilisation of efficient resources and undermining the existing infrastructure capacity utilisation.

As a transmission network operator, NTDC must also prioritise the completion of the K2 and K3 transmission lines.

This will help maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the power sector while ensuring optimal operations of generation facilities.

He advised that key obstacles—such as the limited transfer capacity between the two systems, the pending grid study required under the Interconnection Agreement between NTDC and KE, and the delayed construction of the K2 and K3 transmission lines—must be addressed without further delay.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2025