Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Suddenly Has Too Much Electricity

[Ray02589]

The article headline is completely wrong. We don't have "too much electricity" which implies progress and abundance. We have very low electricity consumption due to unstable grid, non-paying customers, slow economic growth, and high inflation due to falling rupee. Our neighbors consume much more electricity per capita, except Afghanistan.

 

[blueazure]

Right. Please also see: Circular Debt.

............ which has nearly doubled under new govt ...........

 

[Patriot forever]

............ which has nearly doubled under new govt ...........

Last financial year alone the capacity payment was 950 billion rupees. With the agreements in dollar terms given the depreciation in rupee what else do you expect, the cost as well as capacity payments have increased many folds. Not to mention the additional installed capacity. Let's hope the negotiations with IPP's succeed, that is our only way of getting out of this mess.

 

[VCheng]

............ which has nearly doubled under new govt ...........

Right, just like the purana Pakistan. All the familiar economic problems that were promised to be better, are only growing worse. The reckoning will be only more painful the longer such problems are allowed to fester.

 

[blueazure]

Last financial year alone the capacity payment was 950 billion rupees. With the agreements in dollar terms given the depreciation in rupee what else do you expect, the cost as well as capacity payments have increased many folds. Not to mention the additional installed capacity. Let's hope the negotiations with IPP's succeed, that is our only way of getting out of this mess.

hmmm, let see


CD was around 944bn PKR back in july 18' when PTI took to power = dollar was around 121 then

as of today , CD is 2000bn PKR + = dollar is 161


--------------

if mere dollar appreciation is taken in account, then CD should have gone up to around ~1300bn,

but why 2000bn ?


i reckon, CD has kept growing in absolute numerical terms by around 400-500bn in the 2.5 yrs of this govt


this is nothing but highway robbery by IPPs ,

hmmm, let see


CD was around 944bn PKR back in july 18' when PTI took to power = dollar was around 121 then

as of today , CD is 2000bn PKR + = dollar is 161


--------------

if mere dollar appreciation is taken in account, then CD should have gone up to around ~1300bn,

but why 2000bn ?


i reckon, CD has kept growing in absolute numerical terms by around 400-500bn in the 2.5 yrs of this govt


this is nothing but highway robbery by IPPs ,

 

[Patriot forever]

hmmm, let see


CD was around 944bn PKR back in july 18' when PTI took to power = dollar was around 121 then

as of today , CD is 2000bn PKR + = dollar is 161


--------------

if mere dollar appreciation is taken in account, then CD should have gone up to around ~1300bn,

but why 2000bn ?


i reckon, CD has kept growing in absolute numerical terms by around 400-500bn in the 2.5 yrs of this govt


this is nothing but highway robbery by IPPs ,

I too hope bro we sort out the power sector.

This is just the capacity payment projection till 2023.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1354825186382655491

Depreciation is not just relevant in respect to capacity payments but also the cost of PPA (Power purchase agreements) as the tariff is set in cents/kwh. The increase cost in rupees is not affordable to industrial sector as well that's why they rely on captive inhouse local gas power plants which is available at cheaper rates ( 1500MW) This does not include the in house coal power generation in large industries. This accounts for lower consumption of grid power inversely related to capacity payments. With the recent package given to industries there is an increase of 8.5% increase in grid power consumption, but it is nowhere comparable to the installed capacity we have.

NEPRA suggested at increase in tariff of 3Rs something, the actual increase is Rs 1.95.

The higher the cost of electricity the lower the consumption even in residential connections. The more the capacity payments. This is a positive cycle, with each factor complementing the other resulting in increased circular debt.

 

[Norwegian]

Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Suddenly Has Too Much Electricity

27 January 2021, 08:52 GMT+3

• Chinese financing helped boost power output to surplus
• Government to pay power producers $2.8b by Dec. to cut tariffs

After spending decades tackling electricity shortages, Pakistan now faces a new and unfamiliar problem: too much generation capacity.


The South Asian nation’s power supply flipped to a surplus last year after a flurry of coal- and natural gas-fired plants were built, mostly financed by the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Pakistan is slated to have as much as 50% too much electricity by 2023, according to Tabish Gauhar, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for the power sector.




That is problematic because the government is the sole buyer of electricity and pays producers even when they don’t generate. To help tackle the issue, the government has negotiated with producers to end that system, lower their tariffs and asked them to delay the start of new projects, according to Gauhar. It is also trying to convince industries to switch to electricity from gas.




“We have a lot of expensive electricity and that is a burden,” he said.



While the Chinese financing and the surplus is a welcome change after years of shortages that left exporters unable to meet orders and major cities without electricity for much of the day, two main problems remain. The first is a creaking network, and the second is the need to supply cheaper power while keeping emissions in check.


“Pakistan has overcapacity, yet it still has power shortages because of the unreliability of the grid,” said Simon Nicholas, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis. “They haven’t invested in the grid the same way they’ve invested in power plants.”

The last nationwide blackout happened just last month after an outage at the country’s largest facility. While the new plants have also boosted coal generation to a record fifth of the power mix, Pakistan plans to increase the share of wind and solar to 30%, while another 30% will be generated from river-run dams.

Pakistan will pay private power producers 450 billion rupees ($2.8 billion) in overdue electricity bills in a deal to reduce future tariffs. The government targets to pay 40% of that bill by the end of February, with the second payment slated before December, according to Gauhar. A third of the payment will be made in cash, with the rest in fixed income instruments, he added.


About 8 gigawatts worth of government-owned power plants will also have tariffs reduced. And Pakistan plans to negotiate lower tariffs for mining and power generation at the Thar coalfield, said Gauhar.

The government aims to delay about 10 gigawatts worth of planned power projects, including coal and wind plants, since there won’t be any need for them next year, said Gauhar.

Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Suddenly Has Too Much Electricity

After spending decades tackling electricity shortages, Pakistan now faces a new and unfamiliar problem: too much generation capacity.

www.bloomberg.com

++++++++++++++++++

 

[Thorough Pro]

Too much power is never a problem.
Replace use of irreplaceable power sources with electricity, use electric heaters instead of gas, oil burners at homes or in the industry

Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Suddenly Has Too Much Electricity

27 January 2021, 08:52 GMT+3

• Chinese financing helped boost power output to surplus
• Government to pay power producers $2.8b by Dec. to cut tariffs

After spending decades tackling electricity shortages, Pakistan now faces a new and unfamiliar problem: too much generation capacity.


The South Asian nation’s power supply flipped to a surplus last year after a flurry of coal- and natural gas-fired plants were built, mostly financed by the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Pakistan is slated to have as much as 50% too much electricity by 2023, according to Tabish Gauhar, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for the power sector.




That is problematic because the government is the sole buyer of electricity and pays producers even when they don’t generate. To help tackle the issue, the government has negotiated with producers to end that system, lower their tariffs and asked them to delay the start of new projects, according to Gauhar. It is also trying to convince industries to switch to electricity from gas.




“We have a lot of expensive electricity and that is a burden,” he said.



While the Chinese financing and the surplus is a welcome change after years of shortages that left exporters unable to meet orders and major cities without electricity for much of the day, two main problems remain. The first is a creaking network, and the second is the need to supply cheaper power while keeping emissions in check.


“Pakistan has overcapacity, yet it still has power shortages because of the unreliability of the grid,” said Simon Nicholas, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis. “They haven’t invested in the grid the same way they’ve invested in power plants.”

The last nationwide blackout happened just last month after an outage at the country’s largest facility. While the new plants have also boosted coal generation to a record fifth of the power mix, Pakistan plans to increase the share of wind and solar to 30%, while another 30% will be generated from river-run dams.

Pakistan will pay private power producers 450 billion rupees ($2.8 billion) in overdue electricity bills in a deal to reduce future tariffs. The government targets to pay 40% of that bill by the end of February, with the second payment slated before December, according to Gauhar. A third of the payment will be made in cash, with the rest in fixed income instruments, he added.


About 8 gigawatts worth of government-owned power plants will also have tariffs reduced. And Pakistan plans to negotiate lower tariffs for mining and power generation at the Thar coalfield, said Gauhar.

The government aims to delay about 10 gigawatts worth of planned power projects, including coal and wind plants, since there won’t be any need for them next year, said Gauhar.

Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Suddenly Has Too Much Electricity

After spending decades tackling electricity shortages, Pakistan now faces a new and unfamiliar problem: too much generation capacity.

www.bloomberg.com

++++++++++++++++++

 

[Patriot forever]

Too much power is never a problem.
Replace use of irreplaceable power sources with electricity, use electric heaters instead of gas, oil burners at homes or in the industry

Well too much expensive electricity which people don't actually like to use

 

[RoadRunner401]

Yes, Signing expensive contracts with IPP filling up Desco with unqualified individuals, guaranteeing Profits to IPP in dollars, Importing the fuel in dollars and selling it to IPPS in rupees at heavily subsidized price, guaranteeing the Payments to IPPS even when they are not producing power by the Pakistani Royals (PML_N)

Not to mention PML_N paying 130 or 200% of the cost of setting up power plants to private investors. All these perks with Borrowed money at short term, high interest rates Plus high distribution losses, widespread electricity theft, massive unrecoverable bills.

Yes, its all PMIK fault, Lets bring back PPP OR PML_N they will solve this problem in days after all when they left the government treasury was overflowing with dollars, circular debt what circular debt, all this started when PMIK took control..

 

[RoadRunner401]

What, there are still blackouts in some Pakistani cities, where is the surplus going?

Its miss leading, once all power plants and dams that are still under construction are completed, we will have more power generation capacity than we need, we aren't there yet.