Pakistani consumers paid Rs472 billion to 105 independent power producers (IPPs) in capacity payments during the April-June quarter, even as the country endured a severe electricity shortfall of three to four thousand megawatts and weeks of load-shedding.
According to the government document, the capacity payments continued uninterrupted despite the supply crisis, with the entire amount recovered from consumers through their electricity bills.
Capacity payments are made to power producers to cover fixed costs regardless of how much electricity they actually generate, meaning IPPs receive these sums whether or not the power is delivered to the national grid.
Among the largest recipients, Nuclear Power Plant Three was paid Rs37 billion and Nuclear One received Rs36 billion. WAPDA Hydel was paid Rs35 billion, while China Fuel Energy received Rs32.81 billion.
Thar Coal Block One and Port Qasim Power were each paid roughly Rs26-29 billion, and Shanghai Energy received Rs26 billion.
The payments were made even as load-shedding intensified across the country over the past one and a half months, with the power shortfall holding steady between three and four thousand megawatts throughout the period, the document noted.
The gap between payments to power producers and the availability of electricity to consumers has fuelled renewed criticism of Pakistan’s capacity payment structure, which has long been blamed for driving up electricity costs despite chronic supply shortages.
