Nepra questions push to revive idle Kot Addu plant

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday questioned the push to revive the long-idle Kot Addu power plant, demanding to know why a substitute wasn’t prepared during its years of inactivity and why the plant was needed when the country already have excess power generation.

The regulator also issued show-cause notices to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) for failing to attend a public hearing on the plant’s tariff petition.

“Mepco has already stated in writing that there is no need for power from Kot Addu. Then why is there so much insistence?” asked Nepra Member (Sindh) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh. “Why was a substitute not prepared in all this time? Couldn’t the system complications be resolved by improving transmission instead?”

The public hearing, chaired by Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar, was convened to evaluate a three-year tariff proposal from Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco), which has demanded reference tariff, including capacity charges, between Rs30.30 (for gas/RLNG) and Rs34.47 per kWh (LSFO), along with Rs1.61 billion in arrears dating back to 2022.