PESHAWAR, Jan 11: The NWFP government has approved the sale of 18MW electricity, to be generated from the Pehur Hydropower Project, to Wapda amid prevailing standoff over tariff for the Malakand-III Hydropower Project between the two entities.

A decision to this effect had been taken by the provincial cabinet on December 23, 2006, an official told Dawn.

The provincial cabinet had directed the irrigation department to constitute a committee that would take up the matter with relevant quarters for attaining maximum per unit price.

Following the cabinet's decision, the authorities concerned had started communications with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) for tariff determination and for finalising a power purchase agreement with Wapda.

Even though the provincial cabinet had hinted at 4.7 cent as per unit price for the Pehur project, the final demand by the provincial government was linked with the resolution of the ongoing standoff over tariff of the Malakand-III project, said the official.

Wapda, being the purchaser of the electricity to be generated from the Malakand-III project, had offered 3.2 cent as per unit price to the NWFP government, which refused the offer and demanded that the minimum price should not be less than 4.7 cent per unit, as envisaged under the 1995 Federal Hydel Policy, he informed.

With Wapda appearing reluctant to revise its offer; the NWFP government had no other option but to move Nepra, said the official.

The provincial government, he said, had hired a legal consultant to file a petition with Nepra for maximum increase in the per unit price.

The provincial government would place its demand regarding the per unit price of power generated from the Pehur project once the Malakand-III issue was resolved.

Being the first-ever project to be constructed through provincial resources, the Malakand-III project was supposed to start power generation by December 2006. However, now its formal operations were expected to begin from April 2007 owing to delay in completion of some civil work on the project, the official maintained.

The provincial government's decision to sell electricity from the Malakand-III project had evinced criticism from industrialists. They were demanding the provision of such electricity for the local industry on the basis of wheeling charges by utilising the Peshawar Electric Supply Company distribution network.