NEECA starts energy audit of gas-based captive power plants

ISLAMABAD: The National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) has initiated an energy audit of gas-based captive power plants (CPPs) through independent consulting firms and has asked power units to schedule a time for the audit.

NEECA Managing Director Dr Sardar Mohazzam wrote a letter to CPPs, requesting them to share a date and time on which the consulting firm can visit the respective unit for audit, and to fill up the online captive power unit information form.

Keeping in mind the decline of natural gas resources with no sizeable gas discoveries, the availability of power in the national grid, and the currently inefficient use of indigenous natural gas, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), in its meeting held on June 4, directed the Petroleum Division (Ministry of Energy) to revise efficiency benchmarks of CCPs on its own in consultation with stakeholders as the efficiency of most plants is below 50 per cent.

According to reports, the Petroleum Division, on July 30, assigned the task of promoting the efficient use of fast-declining indigenous natural gas resources to NEECA, as well as directing them to utilise the excess power in the national grid.

According to NEECA, it is actively engaged with the Petroleum Division, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and has developed strategic and technical working groups to streamline all the strategic, legal and operational formalities required for smooth execution of energy audit. So far, NEECA has mapped out the geographical and technical profile of 1,141 CPPs in the country. Out of the total, 781 CPPs are operating under the SSGCL and 360 under SNGPL.

Earlier, Petroleum Division submitted proposals in a summary for the consideration of the CCoE.

On August 15, NEECA published an advertisement seeking proposals by private engineering consulting firms for energy audits of gas-based CPPs identified by SNGPL and SSGCL.