Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total cost of generating electricity increased considerably by 59 percent, reaching 11.20 rupees KWh in January 2023 compared to 7.04 rupees KWh registered in December.
However, electricity generation cost declined by 8.3 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said on Monday that on a YoY basis, the decrease in fuel cost is witnessed mainly due to a rise in wind, hydel, nuclear, and solar-based generation.
it said that the rise in fuel cost is triggered by a decline in hydel and nuclear-based generation on MoM basis.
Meanwhile, power generation from RLNG and hydel sources stood at 1,286 GWh and eight hundred GWh respectively, witnessing an increase of 105.2 percent and 56 percent respectively on a YoY basis.
Leading source of power generation
Coal was the main source of power generation in January, accounting for 28.7 percent of the generation mix, to become the largest source of electricity generation in Pakistan. Followed by nuclear, this accounted for 22 percent of the overall generation, registering a generation of 1,876 GWh in January up by 48.3 percent YoY.
In addition, electricity generation from wind sources improved by 47.4 percent on YoY basis to 287 GWh, while power generation from other renewable sources like solar also witnessed a 54.9 percent increase on a yearly basis at 72 GWh.
