National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) started to work on assessing the potential of geothermal energy in Pakistan and for that purpose a webinar titled “Geothermal Energy – Technological Overview and Potential” was held.
The webinar was presided over by chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi which was intended to create awareness regarding geothermal energy, technological advances in this field and the potential for Pakistan.
Chairman NEPRA, in his comments, pointed out that as it is a new technology in Pakistan, the world is heading expeditiously towards discovering such avenues to attain zero carbon emission goals along with reliable and affordable power generation.
He further stated that Pakistan is a blessed country with immense potential in this area which needs to be tapped.
Meanwhile, Amanda Kolker who is International Research Scientist and Geothermal Laboratory Program Manager at NREL gave a detailed presentation underlining geothermal energy, potential in Pakistan, technological advancements in the field, and recommendations for harnessing this potential.
The webinar was also attended by NEPRA professionals and a huge number of power sector stakeholders, members of the academia, and others.
Recently, NEPRA held an open hearing about the NEPRA draft amendment in the Distribution Generation and Net-metering regulation of 2015. The authority claims that after these changes, the existing applicable national average power purchase price of Rs. 19.32 / kWh will drop to Rs 9/kWh. The difference is because of power purchase, including the capacity purchase price.
According to NEPRA, only 20,700 consumers all over Pakistan would have to pay these charges which are allowed Net Metering as per NEPRA regulations. NEPRA Chairman also asked these 20,700 net-metering consumers to give up Rs. 10.32/kWh for the extra exported units to DISCOs.
Therefore, these consumers must do it for 36 million consumers. This is because of those who do not avail this facility due to lack of resources.