KARACHI: Pakistan’s power generation increased by 7% year-on-year (YoY) in October 2024, reaching 10,262 GWh compared to 9,572 GWh in October 2023, driven primarily by a surge in coal-based generation. However, electricity generation costs also rose by 10% due to higher expenses associated with coal and nuclear power.
Month-on-month, power generation fell by 17.8% from 12,487 GWh in September 2024. Over the first four months of the fiscal year, total generation declined by 5% YoY to 50,808 GWh compared to 53,709 GWh in the same period last year.
For the first time in over a year, actual generation exceeded the reference generation by 0.7%, noted Tahir Abbad, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited. He highlighted a negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA), as the generation cost of Rs9.26/KWh (including transmission losses) was Rs1.02/KWh lower than the reference cost.
The cost of power generation increased to Rs9.06/KWh in October, up from Rs8.26/KWh a year earlier. Imported coal costs surged by 27%, reaching Rs16.91/KWh compared to Rs13.27/KWh in October 2023. Similarly, nuclear power costs rose by 23%, while gas-based power saw a 5% cost increase.
Hydel power accounted for 31.1% of the total electricity generation mix in October, remaining the largest contributor, followed by RLNG (19.5%) and local coal (14.8%). Renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and bagasse contributed 1.9%, 1.0%, and 0.5%, respectively.
In the July-October period, hydel power led the generation mix with nearly 40% of the total output, despite an overall 5% rise in generation costs driven by local coal and nuclear energy.
Story by Tanveer Malik
