Power plants hold CPPA responsible for closure

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) summoned heads of 27 closed power plants on Friday, where the power firms said Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) hadn’t issued funds on time, causing fuel shortage and no money for repairing the plants.

The regulator called upon the power plants’ chief after PM Shehbaz Sharif took notice of unscheduled power outages across the country. Around 27 power plants with an installed capacity of 7140MW are reportedly under forced outages on fuel shortages or technical faults.

NEPRA had also summoned CPPA and National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC) in the meeting. The authority expressed serious concern over the closure of plants because of a shortage of fuel oil and technical faults. “When there is a high energy demand, why are these plants not available?”

In response, the heads openly blamed the CPPA for not providing them with funds on time. “We have no money for purchasing oil and repairing our plants,” they said, adding, if CPPA gave them the money on time, they could easily cope with the issues.

NEPRA asked the CPPA to devise a schedule for paying the money to the plants at the earliest. It also advised the CPPA to review its planning according to the season’s harshness.

The authority directed the NPCC to immediately run Guddu power plant (GENCO-II) on an open cycle to add 260MW to the grid and provide relief to the masses. It also constituted a committee comprised of the NPCC and the private sector to help the CPPA better plan daily.

On Thursday, Premier Shehbaz Sharif took notice of unscheduled load shedding in the country and directed the Power Division to resolve the issue immediately. The prime minister was informed that 27 power plants with an installed capacity of 7140MW were under forced outages on fuel shortages or technical faults.

Out of 27, nine were under forced outage on non-availability of fuel, and 18 were shut having technical faults.

A 140-MW gas-powered combined cycle power plant Habibullah Coastal Power Company (PVT) Limited, Quetta, has been closed for around three years due to the unavailability of gas, as its supply agreement has expired.

Four other power plants with a combined capacity of 1195MW have been under forced outages for last four months on the non-availability of RLNG.

Liberty Power Plant, with a capacity of 210MW, has been under outage since December 18, 2021, on unavailability of gas. SNGPL disconnected gas supply to the power plant on account of nonpayment.

Interestingly, one of Sahiwal’s coal-fired power plants with a generation capacity of 621MW is also under forced outage for the last one month on low coal supply. Furnace oil shortage also forced the Jamshoro (549 MW) and Muzzafargarh (840 MW) power plants to remain asleep.