ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has decided to approve new rates and terms & conditions for Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) with regard to the import of power from Kohala Hydro Company and Azad Pattan Hydropower Project.
Earlier, the CPPA had filed two separate tariff proposals for determination of rates proposed by the 1,124MW Kohala Hydropower Project and 700.7MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project, located in the territory of Azad Jammu Kashmir.
For 700MW Azad Pattan Hydropower project, NEPRA has approved variable charges of local operation and maintenance (O&M-local) for 1-30 years at Rs0.1032 per kilowatt hour and water charges for the said duration at Rs0.4250/kWh. Similarly, NEPRA approved the fixed charges of O&M-local at Rs109.8811 for 30 years and O&M-foreign at Rs164.8217/kWh.
Insurance was fixed at Rs95.6998/kWh, while debt service (foreign) of Rs1,467.7894 for 12 years was approved. Return on equity (ROE) was set at Rs722.7703/kWh for 1-12 years while Rs768.2878/kWh for the next 18 years. ROE during construction was set at Rs491.8689/kWh for 30 years.
In case of 1,124MW Kohala Hydropower Project, NEPRA has approved to fix the variable charges of O&M-local for 1-30 years at Rs0.1121 per kilowatt hour, while O&M (foreign) was approved at Rs0.0480/kWh and water charges for the said duration were set at Rs0.4250/kWh. Similarly, NEPRA approved fixed charges of O&M-local at Rs98.7982/kWh for 30 years and O&M (foreign) at Rs148.1973 /kWh. Insurance was fixed at Rs105.5339/kWh, while debt service (foreign) at Rs1,499.5079/kWh for 12 years and debt service (local) at Rs158.3077/kWh for the same period. Return on equity was set at Rs803.7326/kWh for 1-12 years and at Rs854.3489/kWh for the next 18 years. ROE during construction was set at Rs544.6875/kWh for 30 years.
According to NEPRA, the authority took this decision after observing the due process of law. The revised tariffs will be applicable for a period of 30 years on BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) basis, commencing from the commercial operation date (COD). Debt service will be paid in the first 12 years of commercial operation of the plant after COD while redemption of equity has been allowed after 12 years of commercial operation of the plant. Sinosure fee on debt component of tariff for 12 years period has been allowed at the rate of 0.6 per cent per annum. Likewise, the reference PKR/Dollar rate has been assumed at 1USD=104.85 PKR.
Moreover, the reference tariff of Azad Pattan Hydropower Project has been calculated on the basis of net contracted capacity of 693.70MW and net annual energy production of 3,265.81GWh, while the reference tariff of Kohala Hydropower Project has been calculated on the basis of net contracted capacity of 1,112.76MW and net annual energy production of 5,149GWh.
