Karachi, June 21, 2021 (PPI-OT): Power generation rises in May-2021

A total of 13,010GWh was generated during May-2021, reflecting an 8% increase from the same month last year and a massive 24% rise over April-2021. With the inclusion of the latest month, total power generation for 11MFY21 amounts to 115,772GWh, 7% higher YoY.

Furnace Oil (FO) has only contributed towards ~6% of the generation during May-2021. That said, said, the relative increase may seem astounding given the low base factor: FO-based generation has increased by 5 times over May-2021 and even more impressively jumped by ~6 times over the preceding month (Apr-2021). On the other hand, Hydel generation dropped by nearly 22% YoY during the month and was the only major source to report a drop in generation.

During 11MFY21, Hydel generation (3,465GWh, 30%) has been the greatest contributor to power generation by far with Coal (2,619GWh, 22%) and RLNG (2,829GWh, 21%) follow neck and neck.

Interestingly, the fuel cost per unit has slightly declined by 2% to Rs4.73 per kWh during 11MFY21. However, we highlight that this may not reflect the current situation as the low oil prices prevalent during 1HFY21 are long gone. This can also be gauged from the latest fuel cost per unit for May-2021 which stands at Rs5.70 per kWh (up 33% YoY).