Daily Times

NEPRA Thursday concluded a public hearing on K-Electric’s Power Acquisition Programme (PAP) for FY2024 to FY2030. The key objective of the Power Acquisition Programme is to develop a long-term capacity expansion plan for KE’s service territory and meet the energy demand in a reliable and sustainable manner, while maximizing the use of renewable and indigenous resources.

The Power Acquisition Program was submitted with the regulator in early 2023 and complements KE’s PKR 484 billion Investment Plan to bolster KE’s transmission and distribution infrastructure. Focused on enabling access to affordable energy for all, the PAP prioritizes a gradual integration of renewable and indigenous power sources up to 2,200 MW. This includes solar, wind and also hydel projects which will channel electricity towards Karachi under the wheeling regulations prescribed by the NEPRA and Government of Pakistan.

It is anticipated that with a sustained growth of 2% per year, Karachi’s peak demand could touch 5,000MW by 2030 and will cater to the power needs of 5 million customers. The company’s efforts are to make the share of renewable energy comprise 30% of its generation mix. To actualize these power projects, KE is engaged with various stakeholders including the World Bank, Sindh Energy Department, Government of Balochistan, and other large scale power sector developers.

The approval of the Power Acquisition Program is an important step in K-Electric’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) process. The company voluntarily filed for a non-exclusive license and submitted separate petitions for its generation, transmission, and distribution businesses in alignment with the best practices and imminent liberalization of the power sector under the CTBCM.