Pakistan’s ‘biggest’ coal power plant is being constructed near Port Qasim in Karachi. The coal power project is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure.
Once operational, it could significantly decrease the level of electricity shortfall in the country.
Work on the project is currently underway on the new power plant which is expected to be completed by March 2018.
Details about the 1320MW Coal Power Plant
The coal power plant will have two units each with a combined capacity of 1320MW. One unit (holding 660MW capacity) is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 and the other by March 2018.
Around $2.08 billion dollars will be spent on this project which is just one of the 21 energy projects which will be constructed under the CPEC. The project has been deemed high-priority under the CPEC.
The ownership of the project is shared by Power Construction Corporation of China and Al Mirqab Capital which is owned by the Qatar royal family. They have 51% and 49% of the shares of the project respectively and the rest is owned by Export-Import Bank of China.
The assistant General Manager behind the coal power plant project is Mr. Wu Xianing. He said,
“The project adopts the world’s leading super-critical thermal technology and will also follow environment-friendly operations, including seawater desalination and flue gas de-sulfurization,”
Coal for the power plant will be imported from Indonesia, Africa and Australia for which a company has been created in Singapore to handle it. A 50,000 tonne capacity pier is being constructed at the project site which will be further increased to 70,000 tonnes of capacity when required.
Benefit to Pakistan
According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the country is facing energy shortfall to the tune of 6000MW. The demand reaches about 22000MW in the summer season, putting more strain on the national grid and leading to loadshedding across many parts of the country.
This project is expected to reduce the shortfall by around 20%. It will not only provide relief for thousands of families in their daily life but will also help provide jobs to hundreds of thousands of people by restarting industries that were shutdown due to power shortage.
Once the coal power plant is completed, it will be managed by the Port Qasim Electric Power Company.
The project’s yearly electricity production will stand at 9000 Gigawatts, enough to provide 4 million families with electricity for a year.
It is hoped that CPEC projects are completed as required and within the project timeline. It is also hoped that they don’t meet the same fate as other government-led projects such as the Islamabad Airport, which face delays and other issues that increase the cost of the projects.
Where’s KMQ?
idhar hi hai Ishtiaq bhai, bas thoda busy in wrapping up work before eid holidays. Aur baki aaj kal ProPK par dil nahi lagta.
Dil nahi lagta idhar? ZemTV pay baithay rehtay ho kiya?
aare nahi aamir bhai, bas waise hi aaj kal ProPK main humare media channels ki shabeh aane lagi hai which I personally don’t like. So is liye its better to stay quite.
Na karain sir. I will personally look into this feedback and make sure k aisa na ho.
alright sir, thanks for this.
Yar tum ne perishan kar dia tha hum logon ko. Tum agar aik aadh din aur nazar na aatay tou maine tou confirm forum chor dena tha. Aur shayad bohat se aur bhi chor dete. Yaar KMQ tum propak k cherry on top ho. Forum pe tuned raha karo yar. Dekho Aamir Bhai ne bhi tumhain miss kia hai humaray saath saath. Is liye plz yar. Aur kaise ho tum?
Allah ka karam hai Ishtiaq bhai, aap emotional mat ho yaar :-) Aaap se baat hoti rahe gi…
why to import coal when we have mines in pakistan?
The quality of the coal is said to be inadequate. Thats why it needs to be imported.
To eat commission on contracts.
The world is moving away from Coal power, we are embracing it
Extremely polluting and destructive to the environment
And for a country that shows off its huge amount of Coal Reserves why the fudge are we importing Coal?
I read somewhere that we’re importing coal because a majority of our reserves is low quality.
Why can’t coal deposits of sind be used in this project? Why imported coal?
abbay ghaamur………….before sh*tting read other’s comments………the coal is of low quality.
and who will assure that this information (low quality coal) is true?