Pakistan Ups Gas Share in Power Generation

The share of regasified imported LNG in Pakistan’s overall electricity production was 27% in April, Pakistan Today reported May 25 citing data from the Central Power Purchasing Agency. Overall power generation this April was 10,135 gigawatt-hours.

The share of regasified LNG in overall power production was 24.3% in March and 19.2% in February.

Power generation from locally produced natural gas was 16% of total power output in April, the data showed. The cost of power generation from imported regasified LNG was much higher than that of locally produced gas. In March, share of domestically produced gas in overall power output was 21% while it was 24% in February. 

The cost of electricity generated from regasified LNG was Pakistani rupee 9.01 (7.75 US cents)/kWh, compared with Pakistani rupees 5.06/kWh for domestic gas, according to the agency.

Pakistan has been working on reducing the share of heavy fuel oil (furnace oil) used in power production, bearing in mind its negative environmental impact. The government says gas, especially LNG, will continue to be an important source for power generation this year. Pakistan started LNG imports in 2015 and has two floating import terminals in operation; it is building more terminals as well as pipelines.