Nepra grants tariff for 1,320MW coal power plants

KARACHI: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has granted the upfront tariff to China Power Hub Generation Company for its proposed 1,320-megawatt coal power plants, a notice said on Saturday.

The company will set up two 660mw of coal-based power plants in Hub, a Balochistan’s industrial estate, 56-kilometre from Karachi.

The upfront tariff was determined in June 2014 at Rs4.7153/kilowatt hour levelized for 30 years. The company’s application for the generation licence is under process.

The notice said this tariff will remain valid for a period of two years from the date of notification in the official gazette. 

“The revision in upfront tariff for the next validity period will be undertaken at least six months prior to the end of the validity period and in case upfront tariff for the next validity period is not notified, the reference tariff parameters as per this determination will continue to remain applicable until notification of the revised upfront tariff,” it added.

Earlier, the company unconditionally accepted the upfront coal tariff for up to 660mw of coal power plant, which will run on imported coal and be financed by foreign funds. 

The Nepra estimated the project cost for 660MW at $956.1 million, while setting the upfront coal tariff, “which will be subject to adjustment at the time of commencement of operation.”

Last year, Hub Power Company (Hubco) signed a joint venture agreement with China Power International Holding Ltd, a wholly-owned core enterprise of the China Power Investment Corporation, to set up 1,320mw imported coal-fired power plants in Balochistan.

Hubco is targeting financial close of the new plant before June 2016, with the project likely to come online by 2020.

Set up in 1994, Hubco is the country’s first and largest independent power producer. Since the company’s sponsors National Power International Holdings BV and Xenel stepped out, Dawood group handled the project.

Hubco owns an oil-fired power station with an installed net capacity of 1,200mw in Hub and another of 214mw in Narowal, a city in the northeast of the Punjab.

It also has 75 percent stakes in Laraib Energy Limited, which is the first hydropower independent power producer in Pakistan.

The Hub Power Company announced an unconsolidated net profit of Rs9.85 billion and earnings per share of Rs8.51 for the fiscal year of 2014/15.