ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has granted a separate generation licence to the state-owned 565.65MW Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) at Nandipur, near Gujranwala in Punjab to make it ready for privatisation.
Although the plant is in operation since 2015, this separate licence was the pre-requisite for its privatisation, as the government has already decided to hand it over into private hands.
It is to be noted that on July 1, 2002, the authority granted a generation license to Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL/GENCO-III) for its three distinctly located generation facilities, including 1,350MW Thermal Power
Station Muzaffargarh, 144MW Gas Turbine Power Station Faisalabad, and 565.65MW Combined Cycle Power Plant Nandipur. Subsequent modifications were made to the license in 2014, 2018, and 2020.
On October 31, 2014, CCPP Nandipur was included in the generation licence of NPGCL/GENCO-III through Licensee Proposed Modification (LPM). After the government decision and direction of the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP), the power division on December 31, 2021, directed NPGCL to carve out CCPP Nandipur from its existing generation licence and avail a separate generation licence for the same.
NPGCL/GENCO-III applied on July 7, 2022, for the grant of a separate generation licence for CCPP Nandipur. The power regulator sought the views and comments of different stakeholders including but not limited to government, ministries, their attached departments, and different representative organisations.
Faisalabad Electric Supply Company Limited (FESCO), Petroleum Division, Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited (CPPAGL), and Punjab Power Development Board (PPDB) submitted their comments.
FESCO said it has no reservations, as its government’s policy matter. Petroleum Division had no objection.
It stated that CCPP Nandipur has a useful life of 30 years from its commercial operation date (COD) from July 23, 2015, with efficiency in the range of 41 to 49 per cent. It also provided a history of the Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) for CCPP Nandipur stating that an
interim agreement signed between SNGPL and NPGCL for the supply of 100 MMCFD of gas is valid till the execution of the GSA.
As of August 2022, the outstanding dues of CCPP Nandipur amount to Rs27.868 billion. CPPAGL and PPDB also had no objection to the granting of a generation licence.
CCPP Nandipur consists of three gas turbines with 122.1MW each, three heat recovery steam generators, and a steam turbine of 199.35MW. The installed capacity of CCPP Nandipur on gas/RLNG is 565.65MW whereas on RFO the same is 474MW.
CCPP Nandipur achieved its COD on July 23, 2015, and started power supply to the national grid. As per the submission of NPGCL, the combined cycle efficiency of CCPP Nandipur on gas/RLNG is 49 per cent.
According to the existing generation licence of NPGCL, the expected useful life of CCPP Nandipur is 30 years from COD. Accordingly, the NEPRA considers the term of the generation licence of CCPP Nandipur as thirty years from its COD and granted the licence till July 22, 2045.
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