NEPRA fixes tariff for solid waste based power plants

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Monday said it has determined the first ever upfront tariff for power generation from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).

“The levelised tariff of US cents 10/kWh based on 25 years’ operational period has been announced with an overall capacity cap of 250 megawatts, wherein share of each province and Federal Territory have been kept at 50 megawatts each,” the NEPRA said in a statement.

“The authority, while keeping in view the environmental issues and waste abundance, decided to initiate development of upfront tariff for generation of electricity from MSW.” The NEPRA further said its initiative would not only provide electricity to the national grid but also create employment opportunities and play vital role in economic growth of the country.

“The assessment of the tariff has been made on the basis of project cost of US$ 3.5 million per megawatt keeping in view the available reference prices in the region,” the authority said in the statement adding the construction period for such kind of power plants has been fixed as 24 months.

“For the protection from the environmental hazards the power producer shall obtain necessary approvals from the relevant government agencies,” the NEPRA said. The authority added that the tariff had been determined after consultative process with stakeholders i.e., Punjab Power Development Board, Alternative Energy Development Board, Central Power Purchasing Agency-G, Anwar Kamal Law Associates, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources, Ministry of Climate Change etc.