Govt imposes ban on supply of gas to CPPs for self-generation.

ISLAMABAD -- The government on Thursday imposed a ban on the supply of gas to captive power plants (CPPs) for self-generation from February 1.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE), held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, approved moratorium/discontinuation of natural gas supply for captive power plants (CPPs) self-generation.

The committee was informed that the measures would, in the short term, make around 150MMCFD natural gas available for use in the power sector, which would replace expensive power generation on back up fuels. In the long term, around 3,000MW load is expected to move to the power grid, which will help to reduce average cost of power as well as help in reducing circular debt build-up.

Cabinet Committee on Energy also discussed a proposal of Petroleum Division for moratorium/discontinuation of natural gas supply for captive power generation. The proposal only applies to industries which are connected to the power grid and therefore have an alternative electricity source.

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The CCOE was informed that the total number of CPPs (General and Export) on SNGPL and SSGCL network was 1211 and the CPPs with electricity connection was 976 while the remaining was without electricity connection. The estimated gas/RLNG consumption of the CPPs is 415 mmcfd. The number of CPPs (Export) is 610 with an estimated consumption of 290 mmcfd and number of non-export CPPs is 601 with an estimated consumption of 125 mmcfd.

Similarly out of the total 1211 CPPs only 227 are cogeneration units which not only generate power for self-consumption but also generate heat energy for their industrial units.

The...