Pakistan’s power generation up nearly 5% year-on-year

Power generation in Pakistan clocked in at 14,839 GWh (19,945MW) in July 2023, up 4.9% as compared to the same period last year. Back in July 2022, power generation stood at 14,151 GWh (19,020MW). The year-on-year (YoY) increase in the power generation was owed to higher generation from Re-gasified Liquid Natural Gas (RLNG)(37.7%), coal (21%), and hydel (11%), said Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, power generation improved 8.2%, as compared to 13,715 GWh registered in June. The increase was attributed to improved hydel (33.5%), RLNG (14.7%), and nuclear (13.5%). However, in 7MCY23 (January to July), power generation went down by 8.5% YoY to 75,861 GWh compared to 82,948 GWh in the same period last year. The decline was owed to lower generation from Residual Furnace Oil (RFO) (-74%), coal (-16.2%), wind (-16.4%), and gas (-11.3%). The total cost of generating electricity in the country decreased significantly by 22.1%, hitting Rs8.34 KWh in July 2023 compared to Rs10.71 KWh registered in the same period of the previous year. The significant decline is attributed to the following reasons, according to AHL: “A decline in coal, RFO, and RLNG-based cost of generation along with an 11% YoY, 5% YoY, 6% YoY, and 6% YoY rise in hydel, nuclear, wind, and solar based generation, respectively.” In July, hydel was the leading source of power generation, accounting for 37.2% of the generation mix, to become the largest source of electricity generation in the country. Followed by RLNG, which accounted for 19.7% of the overall generation, followed by coal which accounted for 14.7% of the power generation share. Among renewables, nuclear energy accounted for 14.2% of the total energy mix, meanwhile, wind, solar and bagasse generation amounted to 3.7%, 0.5% and 0.3% of the generation mix.