The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) held a public hearing on the draft Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2022-31 submitted by National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).

As per the grid code, the NTDC is required to submit an annually updated IGCEP for the approval of the authority. NEPRA approved the IGCEP 2021-30 in September 2021, the first such plan approved in the history of Pakistan’s power sector.

The participants commented on the assumptions taken as input to the IGCEP 2022-31 as well as the outputs and suggested improvements to the planning process.

The IGCEP 2022-31 covers the generation capacity expansion planning in the country for a horizon of 10 years. Future generation projects are selected on the basis of the least-cost option criteria while prioritizing the addition of projects based on clean and green sources of energy.

At the same time, power plants running on polluting and imported sources of fuel will be gradually phased out so that the eventual energy mix is developed along the lines of sustainability and indigenization.

NEPRA has acknowledged the efforts of the NTDC and all other stakeholders that are a part of the development of the IGCEP 2022-31 and hoped that the planning process of the power sector will continue to improve through sustained efforts and coordination of all stakeholders in the country.

The authority will consider all the comments, observations and suggestions shared by the participants in the finalization and subsequent approval of the IGCEP 2022-31. The hearing was presided over by Chairman NEPRA, Engr. Tauseef H. Farooqi and NEPRA members Engr. Rafique Ahmad Shaikh and Engr. Maqsood Anwar Khan were also present.

The hearing was attended by a large number of representatives from different stakeholder entities and government departments including federal and provincial ministries of energy, the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, the Planning Commission, distribution companies, K-Electric, Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited, CPPA-G, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Alternative Energy Development Board, Private Power & Infrastructure Board, Directorate of Renewable Energy Services and Generation Companies etc, local and international energy professionals, members of academia, and journalists who discussed and analysed the draft plan in all aspects.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk