Quarterly Energy Monitor Mar 2020 – June 2020

This yearly quarter (Mar-June) saw two major developments in the energy and power regime in Pakistan; the release and a subsequent repudiation of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company’s Annual Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Report (IGCEP 2047) and a rousing scandal for the Independent Power Production (IPP) sector in Pakistan in the form of an inquiry commission report highlighting financial irregularities in the sector. Like the rest of the world Pakistan also faced crippling economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A nation-wide lockdown was imposed at the end of March lasted for 5 weeks, during which all commercial and Industrial activity within the country came to a grinding halt. This shutting down of economic activity had severe consequences for the energy sector as well, which saw consumer demand dropping down by almost 30%2 putting the national electric utilities and distribution companies (DISCOs) under severe financial distress.