In Islamabad, K-Electric has formally requested an extra supply of 60million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) of natural gas. This request aims toenable the operation of their BQPS-II power plant using gas for a period of45 days, as opposed to costly furnace oil (FO).
The reason behind this request is the anticipated reduction in power supplyfrom the Jhimpir Wind Farm, which is expected to drop to 200-250 MW duringa shutdown period. In a letter addressed to the Minister for Energy,Muhammad Ali, K-Electric’s CEO, Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi, has soughtintervention from the highest levels of the Energy Ministry, including thePetroleum Division and Power Division.
During this 45-day period, the National Transmission and Dispatch Company(NTDC) is planning to shut down its network (500kV K2K3 – NKI circuit) frommid-September to the end of October 2023. This shutdown, coupled with thedecrease in power generation from the Jhimpir wind corridor, has resultedin a reduction of 200-250 MW in power supply from the National Grid toK-Electric.
Currently, K-Electric is receiving 30 MMCFD of Regasified LiquefiedNatural Gas (RLNG) from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). This supply fallssignificantly short of the 276 MMCFD of gas allocated by the EconomicCoordination Committee (ECC) for K-Electric. The existing supply of 30MMCFD RLNG is insufficient to run the 560 MW gas-based combined cycle powerplant (BQPS-II) at full capacity according to the Economic Merit Order(ECO).
This shortfall is exacerbated by the NTDC outage and fluctuations in powergeneration in the Jhimpir wind corridor. K-Electric has noted a surge inpower demand in its service area during September and October. In September2023 alone, power demand has exceeded 3,000 MW, with expectations offurther increases later in September and throughout October.
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Consequently, to address the reduced supply from NTDC and the insufficientgas supply that prevents K-Electric from running BQPS-II at full capacity,CEO Moonis Alvi has outlined two options: burning furnace oil (FO) orimplementing additional 2-3 hours of load shedding.
The former would result in higher consumer tariffs and an additional burdenon the exchequer amounting to approximately Rs 10 billion during the outageperiod (equivalent to around Rs 3.5/kWh). K-Electric, which is alreadydealing with public protests and criticism, has expressed concerns thatincreased load shedding may lead to public dissatisfaction, negativelyimpacting business operations.
In conclusion, K-Electric is seeking support from the Government ofPakistan (GoP) and has requested the Minister for Energy’s office to urgethe relevant authorities to provide an additional 60 MMCFD of gas atadequate pressure during the Jhimpir outage period. This would enableK-Electric to bridge the power gap for Karachi and offer more affordableelectricity to consumers while potentially reducing the need for additionalload shedding.
