ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has urged the government to raise the 11kV load limit for large-scale manufacturing units from 7.5MW to 10MW, arguing that the change could save each industrial unit Rs500-600 million in avoidable capital expenditure.
In separate letters to Power Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Waseem Mukhtar, chairperson of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Aptma Chairperson Kamran Arshad called for an amendment to Clause 2.6.6 (Industrial) of the Nepra Consumer Service Manual.
Under current rules, industrial consumers can obtain supply of up to 7.5MW from a Disco-owned grid station, subject to capacity and payment of full grid-sharing charges. Loads above 7.5MW typically require installation of a dedicated 132/11kV grid station, along with associated transmission infrastructure.
Aptma said the threshold forces units with marginally higher loads to set up independent grid stations even where adequate capacity exists in the distribution company’s network. It estimates that a typical 10MW grid station costs Rs500-600 million, capital it argues could otherwise be used for expansion, modernisation or working capital.
The association also cited land constraints and lengthy right-of-way approvals for 132kV transmission lines as barriers that delay projects and increase costs.It said the original 7.5MW ceiling was based on earlier technical limitations of 11kV feeders. With newer high-tension, low-sag conductors and improved feeder designs, higher loads can now be handled without compromising system stability, it added.
Aptma proposed increasing the limit to 10MW, subject to grid and feeder capacity, full recovery of incremental grid-sharing charges, and technical clearance by the relevant Disco.The association said the amendment would reduce non-productive capital expenditure, avoid duplication of infrastructure and support export-oriented industrial growth without weakening cost recovery or grid safeguards.
