Year: 2020

LAHORE: Over 93000 electricity connections with annual bill of Rs 30 billion have propelled the Punjab government to opt for solarization as the way forward in order to reduce electricity bills and improve the environment, said provincial energy department sources. According to the sources, 13 public sector universities with 26 megawatt potential have initiated solarization projects. The Punjab government is set to functionalize 2.5 megawatt solar plant by March 2021 at Islamia University Bahawalpur, they added. Already, they said 8000 public sector schools in Punjab have been converted to solar.…

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LAHORE: Coal-based power generation is cheaper as compared to gas and oil by Rs5.60/kWh on the basis of plant load factors approved by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). Anjum Nasim, an energy expert, said that power generation based on natural gas is the least expensive form of power generation followed by coal, RLNG and RFO (oil). Tariffs of natural gas plants, on average, are 11% less expensive than tariffs on coal-based plants while tariffs for RLNG based plants are 36% more expensive than coal-based plants and tariffs on oil/RFO…

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Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has raised objections over the 27-year Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP 2020-2047) prepared by the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC). IEEFA has declared the IGCEP 2020-2047 as contradictory to the government’s principles of affordability and sustainability. According to the IEEFA report, Pakistan would end up building more power capacity than its requirement due to over-optimistic energy demand growth forecasts made without taking into account the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Overbuilding of power generation capacity would result in the underutilization…

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Although Portugal’s second solar energy auction is not expected to be finalized until tomorrow, financial newspaper Expresso has revealed the 700 MW procurement round secured a world record lowest bid of €0.0112/kWh ($0.0132). If confirmed, that price would be $0.0003 lower than the $0.0135/kWh bid submitted by French energy group EDF and China’s JinkoPower in a 2 GW tender held in Abu Dhabi, which was cofirmed in July. Portugal’s first solar auction, last summer, saw the Directorate General for Energy and Geology allocate 1.15 GW of solar generation capacity – less than the 1.4…

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