The Ministry of Water and Power, so far, hasn’t issued 80 notifications of the tariff of various power generation projects, which were determined by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in the past, it is learnt reliably.
Official sources at the ministry disclosed to Pakistan Today that power tariff notifications of 80 power generation projects including the wind, solar, Nandipur power projects etc, which have already been determined by NEPRA are still pending with the ministry for the last several months, some even date as back as 2015. The delay in issuance of tariff notifications of power generation projects has caused confusion amongst the investors of power generation projects. “Investors are worried about their investments as their power generation projects could not achieve financial close, besides, the inability to open LCs (letter of credit),” sources said.
Though NEPRA has requested the power ministry many times to issue notifications of the tariff, the ministry, however, has so far paid no heed to the repeated reminders of the regulatory authority. All efforts were in vain as the Former Secretary Water and Power Younus Dhagga was not in favour of issuing the tariff notification, which will cost dearly to the power consumers of the country.
According to sources, Dhagga believed that there was no need to further jack up the tariff of much touted 425mw Nandipur power project, which has so far failed to achieve targets set for power generation. Even, he (Dhagga) was not in favour to notify high power tariff of the wind and solar projects, especially which were already determined by NEPRA. “Delay in the issuance of tariff notification by the ministry has, to some extent, become a cause of Younus Dhagga’s posting from power ministry to commerce ministry,” sources said. The sources further claimed that the monstrous issue of circular debt, coupled with delayed notifications, were one of the few highlights of Dhagga’s tenure as secretary.
It is relevant to mention here that NEPRA, after holding a public hearing and getting comments from relevant stakeholders and the general public, it will determine the power generation tariff and inform the ministry of water and power. Also, it is mandatory for the ministry of power to issue tariff notification within 15 days to the submission/determination of NEPRA.
