NEPRA revises upfront tariff for solar, wind power projects

Author: By Abrar Hamza

KARACHI: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has decided to initiate suo moto proceedings to determine a new tariff for generation of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects and generation of electricity from wind power projects.

In this regard, the authority has notified holding of suo moto proceedings publicly for development of new tariff for solar PV power projects and wind power projects.

Earlier, NEPRA had set new upfront solar tariff of $11.35 to 11.53 cents/kWh for north (Punjab and KP) and 10.72 to 10.89 cents/kWh for south (Sindh and Balochistan) for projects ranging between 1-100MW while the upfront tariff for the wind power plants was Rs 10.6048 per kilowatt.

However, NEPRA has proposed revised cost for solar PV power projects and the upfront tariff for the wind power plants, notifying all the stakeholders, interested/affected persons and the general public in this regard.

The new proposed tariff for generation of electricity from Solar PV power projects assessed by NEPRA are $11.78 cents/kWh for north (Punjab and KP) and 11.12 cents/kWh for south (Sindh and Balochistan) for projects ranging between 1-13 years while the proposed upfront tariff for the projects ranging 14 to 25 years is $5.91cents/kWh for north and 5.58 cents/kWh for south.

NEPRA calculated tariff after assuming capacity utilisation factor of 18% for south region and 17% for north region. Similarly, the NEPRA has proposed new upfront tariff for the wind power plants are $8.95 per kilowatt per hour for the projects ranging between 1 to 13 years while $4.37 kWh for the projects ranging from 14 to 20 years.

NEPRA is holding hearings to decide whether to determine a new upfront tariff for solar power projects and wind power projects or to determine a benchmark tariff for competitive bidding by the relevant agency and whether the proposed cost is reasonable.

NEPRA is holding suo moto proceedings to determine a new tariff for generation of electricity from Solar PV power projects on July 21, 2016, and for generation of electricity from wind power projects on July 19, 2016, at NEPRA Tower, Islamabad.