Friday, June 27 2025

Leghari calls for cross-border power integration
Pakistan on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to a clean energy transition, pledging to achieve 60pc renewable energy generation and 30pc electric vehicle penetration by 2030, while urging greater regional cooperation on electricity trade and connectivity under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) framework. Addressing the SCO Energy Ministers’ Conference virtually, Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Leghari called for urgent collaboration, technological advancement, and policy reforms to confront global and regional energy challenges. The theme was “Integrate Innovation for Energy Future”. “Pakistan is not merely seeking investment — we are offering long-term partnerships grounded in trust, innovation and mutual benefit,” Leghari said. “We are ready to work with all SCO member states to transform our shared energy goals into tangible outcomes that benefit our people and the broader region.”
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Friday, June 13 2025

Importers hastily raise prices of solar power systems
Shopkeepers have raised the prices of solar panels, even though the government’s decision to impose an 18 per cent sales tax on solar panel imports will take effect on July 1, pending the formal approval of the budget before the end of the year. Traders at Regal Chowk in the Saddar area blamed importers for raising prices. They said many consumers appeared upset over the sudden price shock after the budgetary measure, while some customers made the purchases amid uncertainty in prices. They said many families who came to buy solar panels left after learning about an abrupt price jump. One of the traders has quoted the price of a 5kW set (including inverter, water-based battery, iron frames, electric wiring and installation charges) at Rs600,000-700,000 followed by Rs400,000-500,000 for 3kW and Rs700,000-800,000 for 6kW system.
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KE seeks partial fuel cost benefit to consumers
K-Electric has requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) not to pass on the full impact of a Rs4.69 per unit negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA) benefit to consumers, as it had overcharged them in April. In a petition, it instead requested retention of approximately Rs800 million in its accounts on the same pattern as the regulator had allowed fuel cost savings worth Rs15.2 billion in past claims. KE reported that its fuel cost came out to be Rs4.69 per unit lower than it had charged consumers in April, resulting in a fiscal impact of Rs7.2bn.
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Tuesday, June 10 2025

ECONOMIC SURVEY 2024-25: Capacity payments weigh heavily on electricity users
Although the country’s total installed power generation capacity is set to rise to 46,605 megawatts in the outgoing fiscal year (FY25), substantial capacity payments to idle power plants continue to burden electricity consumers nationwide. However, energy experts in both the public and private sectors remain optimistic that this capacity payment burden — estimated at Rs12 to Rs15 per unit and passed on to consumers — will gradually decline, as the government has halted new power projects and terminated power purchase agreements (PPAs) with several independent power producers (IPPs). “The issue of capacity payments is not considered very painful during summer, but it becomes more significant in winter when our total electricity demand drops to just 12,000-13,000 MW,” a senior official at the Ministry of Energy told Dawn on Monday.
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Thursday, June 05 2025

Punjab to fund its new tariff cut with power plants’ profit
A day after its decision to reduce power tariffs to provide relief in electricity bills, the Punjab government on Wednesday said the relief will be financed with billions in profits hitherto harvested by two government-owned power companies, the Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power Private Limited and Punjab Thermal Power Private Limited. The provincial cabinet had decided to cut the power tariffs of these two plants by 30-40 per cent to reduce electricity bills. This move is similar to the federal government’s, which recently renegotiated contracts with independent power plants (IPPs) to reduce tariffs. The provincial government said that both power companies would not make a profit or withdraw savings, and the amount would be diverted towards public relief. The two state-owned entities had been making between Rs12 to Rs13 billion in profit, which they would now forgo.
Related news categories: business economic-indicators power-gen-dist