ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday raised serious concerns over efforts to revive the long-idle Kot Addu power plant, questioning its necessity given Pakistan’s existing surplus power generation capacity.
During a public hearing on a three-year tariff petition filed by Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco), Nepra grilled stakeholders on why no alternative solutions were developed during the plant’s inactivity and whether the transmission system could have been upgraded instead to address grid challenges.
“Mepco has already submitted in writing that it does not require power from Kot Addu. Then why the urgency to bring it back online?” asked Nepra Member (Sindh) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh. He further criticized the lack of a backup strategy over the years the plant remained non-operational.
Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar led the hearing, where Kapco presented a tariff proposal ranging between Rs30.30 per kWh (for gas/RLNG) and Rs34.47 per kWh (for LSFO), in addition to Rs1.61 billion in arrears dating back to 2022.
Notably, both the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) failed to attend the hearing, prompting Nepra to issue them show-cause notices for non-compliance. The absence of key stakeholders further fueled regulatory skepticism surrounding the plant’s revival.
