Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (), has informed that the Central Standing Committee on Renewable Energy chaired by Fawad Jawed is deeply worried about the increasing shutdowns of wind power plants. This grid infrastructure failure is causing billions in revenue losses, leading green energy investors to bankruptcy, and forcing inflation-stricken consumers to bear the cost of expensive imported fuel.
Ikram Sheikh emphasized that despite sovereign guarantees for transmission bottlenecks removal in Gharo-Jhimpir corridors, National Grid Company (NGC) and Independent System & Market Operator (ISMO) have repeatedly failed to upgrade evacuation infrastructure. Consequently, Pakistan’s cheapest and cleanest electricity source is being suppressed while the nation suffers from load shedding and foreign exchange drain on imported RLNG and coal.
The Central Standing Committee highlighted a significant tariff irony: under NEPRA determinations, wind energy beyond benchmark capacity drops to an unprecedented under Rs. 1 per kWh. However, the system operator rejects this virtually free local power in favor of multi-billion dollar thermal imports.
Moreover, the Non-Project Missed Volume (NPMV) mechanism recovers only 38% of losses despite 100% plant readiness, leading to a recipe for financial liquidation. warns that launching Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market and conducting wheeling auctions over a failing network will further destabilize the grid.
Ikram Sheikh urges the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Energy, and NEPRA to enforce ‘Must-Run’ Status, ensure accountability, redirect power to the grid, and reform NPMV.