Nepra alarmed at 1700MW govt power outage

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has expressed its concerns on continuous outage of over 1700 MW cheap electricity from two government owned power plants which is financially overburdening the consumers, well informed sources in NEPRA told Business Recorder on Wednesday.

These concerns were conveyed by Chairman NEPRA, Waseem Mukhtar with the concerned stakeholders in writing.

According to Chairman NEPRA, Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHPP) was developed to make a significant contribution to Pakistan’s energy supply and to offset the reliance on fossil fuels. However, since its commissioning, the plant has encountered numerous issues, including two major shutdowns. The first occurred in 2022 (July 05, 2022 to August 06, 2023), followed by a second in 2024 (May 01, 2024 to till date).

Non-availability of NJHP project: Consumers overpaid Rs167.787bn for costly power

The NJHPP was shut down on May 1, 2024, due to persistent pressure drops in the Headrace Tunnel, with subsequent inspection revealing collapses, silt accumulation, invert damage, seepage, and other structural issues, rendering the plant non-operational.

According to Chairman NEPRA from 2008 to 2018, electricity consumers of Pakistan, excluding KE, were charged an additional fee ‘Neelum Jhelum Surcharge’ at Rs. 0.1/kWh. This surcharge resulted in a total recovery of approximately Rs. 75.484 billion, which was used to finance the development of the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project.

“The prolonged forced outage of NJHPP, prevented it from contributing fully to the national grid and relatively expensive plants are being dispatched by the System Operator to meet system load demand. As a result, consumers are now paying an average of Rs. 0.54/kWh every month owing to the outage. This extra burden, which stems from the inability of the project to deliver its expected benefits is likely to continue for an extended period,” said Mukhtar.

Regarding the plant’s restoration, it was noted by CPPA-G that after the award of the Contract the remedial works required for re-commissioning of the Project may take about two years which is quite alarming and signal that the consumers will bear extra burden for the period. The consumers will bear the contribution for around ten years to develop the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project.

In addition to the above, the prolonged outage of the Steam Turbine unit of Guddu 747, which went out of operation following a fire incident in July 2022, was advised repeatedly by NEPRA as in the past.

Chairman NEPRA reiterated once again that owing to efficient generation capability and availability of indigenous gas Guddu 747 holds a high ranking in the economic merit order. However, the outage has substantially reduced the generation capability of the Guddu complex and put the plant into Open Cycle operation thereby leading to reliance on more expensive and less efficient power plants.

The resultant increase in consumer-end tariffs has placed an undue financial burden on electricity consumers and till date, the cumulative financial loss attributable to the outage of Steam Turbine unit of Guddu 747 stands at approximately Rs 127 billion ($ 453 million), and this figure continues to escalate on a daily basis, he added.

He further contended that the generation facilities at Guddu complex have a pivotal role in system stability by providing reactive power support—- Mega Volt-Amperes Reactive (MVARs) and preventing the total power system collapse. However, due to prolonged forced outage the plant is unable to provide sufficient MVARs that put the system at stake and enhances its vulnerability to undesired events.

Chairman NEPRA stated that given the critical role of both generation facilities resulting in financial implications and growing consumer burden, an immediate intervention was requested to expedite rehabilitation of the Steam Turbine unit of Guddu 747 and Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project. He added that timely action in this regard will substantially mitigate further operational challenges and prevent the additional burden from being transferred onto consumers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025