By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The government is moving to place coal pricing within the purview of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) as it plans to revisit the imported coal supply agreement in a bid to cut prices. Currently, pricing of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) falls within the domain of Ogra and coal pricing would be a new addition for the regulator.
At present, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approves the coal supply agreement and determines the fuel cost component based on current coal prices. Officials disclosed that the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE), in a recent meeting, was proposed that imported coal supply arrangements may be revisited on an immediate basis to save cost. However, it was pointed out that these projects were executed on a government-to-government basis under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
At present, all such imported coal-fired projects are under the CPEC framework, therefore, the committee was informed that the matter should be handled very carefully due to the sensitive nature of government-to-government arrangements. There are three companies running coal-based power plants which include Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Pakistan Energy, Qasim Electric Power Company and China Power Hub Generation Company.
Average fuel cost component for January-December 2019 was also presented during the meeting. It was informed that the average fuel cost component for Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Pakistan Energy was Rs7.11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (including inland freight), Rs5.12 per kWh (including local handling) for Qasim Electric Power Company and Rs5.87 per kWh (including local handling) for China Power Hub Generation Company.
The CCOE was informed that coal was being imported by these power plants through a supply agreement with individual companies. Nepra approves the supply agreement and determines the fuel cost component based on current coal prices.
