UEP Wind Power, a 99-megawatt wind power project built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has asked the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee for Rs5.824 billion to meet its financial obligations by December 31, 2026, warning of a CPEC wind project default risk if the cash shortfall is not covered.
In a letter dated October 19, 2026, addressed to the chief executive of the power purchaser, known as CPPA-G, the company said its projected cash flow was not enough to cover debt servicing, operations and maintenance charges, sales tax, working-capital loan repayments, insurance and other operating costs through December. It asked for the funds in instalments under a month-wise schedule, so each obligation could be met by its deadline.
The CPEC wind project default risk is not a claim about a missed payment today. It is a warning about payments that fall due in the final weeks of the year, and about a receivables pile that keeps growing while those payments approach.
What the CPEC wind project default risk payment schedule shows
The largest single payment is Rs2.651 billion for repayment of a working-capital loan. Debt servicing payable to the China Development Bank accounts for a further Rs1.834 billion. The operations and maintenance operator is owed Rs841.38 million, sales tax stands at Rs323.59 million, operating and administrative expenses at Rs125.94 million, and project insurance at Rs48.47 million.
Under the proposed schedule, the company needs about Rs628.14 million in October, Rs179.61 million in November, and Rs5.016 billion in December. Most of the debt servicing and working-capital loan repayments fall due in December, which explains why a shortfall that looks manageable in October becomes a default risk by the end of the year.
The letter also sets out the other side of the ledger. Unpaid invoices are projected to rise from Rs8.117 billion in October to Rs9.317 billion by December 2026. Overdue invoices are expected to increase from Rs6.532 billion to Rs8.147 billion over the same period. It has now sought priority for repayment of a long-overdue shareholder loan, which its shareholder has advised should be repaid in full by December 31, 2026.
Sales tax of Rs323.592 million is described in the letter as a mandatory obligation to the national exchequer, payable by December 22, 2026. The company added that it has entered its tenth year of operation without yet distributing any dividends to shareholders, a detail that underlines how long the project has run without returning cash to its owners.
Why unpaid bills across the CPEC energy chain matter
The UEP Wind Power request sits inside a wider payment chain problem. According to sources cited in the reporting, CPPA-G owes approximately Rs500 billion to Chinese power plants established under CPEC. The constraint is linked to recoveries by power distribution companies, which remain below the level required under National Electric Power Regulatory Authority directives. Those directives require distribution companies to recover 100 per cent of billed amounts from consumers.
That chain explains why a single wind project can face default even though its turbines keep running. If distribution companies collect less than they bill, the central purchaser has less cash to pass on, and producers build up receivables that leave them struggling to service their own debt.
Feature Pakistan has previously reported on the scale of unpaid dues owed to Chinese power producers, with unpaid dues of Rs498 billion reported for Chinese independent power producers. The Rs500 billion figure cited in the UEP Wind Power reporting sits in the same range, which suggests the problem is structural rather than confined to one project.
Copies of the UEP Wind Power letter were also sent to the Embassy of China in Islamabad, the secretary of the Power Division, the managing director of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board, the chief financial officer of CPPA-G, and the CPEC Authority. That distribution list shows the company is treating the request as a system matter, not a private commercial dispute.
