Pakistan has successfully Launched its third power plant with a capacity of 330 MW at Thar Coal, helping the country generate electricity at a significantly lower cost, reducing energy import bills and saving foreign exchange reserves. will get
This is the third indigenous coal (dirty fuel) plant operating in the vicinity of the mine in Sindh’s Tharparkar district. Accordingly, Thar’s total coal-fired power generation capacity increased to 990 MW in three years.
Hub Power Company (HUBCO) said in an announcement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, “The project has been successfully launched, the Commercial Operations Date (COD) will be effective from October 1, 2022.”
According to the latest government merit order dated September 16, 2022, Thar coal-fired power generation is the third cheapest source among about 124 plants operating on various fuels including gas, RLNG and oil in the country. Thar coal generated electricity per unit cost Rs.4.39 per hour (kWh). According to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), this includes fuel (coal) cost of Rs 3.74 per unit.
The merit order shows that high-speed diesel is the costliest fuel used for power generation, currently priced at Rs 75.04 per unit. However, the government will first fully utilize low-cost fuel-fired plants to meet local demand and only take over production from other expensive plants if demand increases.
An official of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) told the media in February 2022 that earlier, the country had saved a total of $200 million in foreign exchange by taking 660 MW from Thar coal between July 2019 and February 2022. .
The latest 330 MW project is owned by Thar Energy Limited (TEL). It is a joint venture between Habco, Fuji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC) and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the announcement said.
Habco shares rose 1.16% (or Rs 0.80) to close at Rs 69.91 on the PSX with 3.42 million shares traded.
The last two plants are being operated by Engro Powergen Thar (Pvt) Limited (EPTL) with a combined capacity of 660 MW on indigenous coal. It is a joint venture between Engro Powergen, CMEC, and Habib Bank Limited (HBL).
Local coal-fired power generation is projected to rise to 2,600 MW by the end of next year (December 2023), as other Minemouth power projects in the pipeline come online.
While there are 13 coal blocks in Thar, and each is of different size, the planned production will include coal from Block-I and II.
SECMC (which operates only Block-II) can generate 5,800 MW from its block which may or may not be operational. So far, the companies have approached financing for only 2,600 MW, the company official said.
It turns out that not all of Thar’s coal can be used for power generation because of its large coal reserves, and scientists are considering turning the coal into liquid and gas so that other industries, including fertilizer companies, can use it. Can use coal.
Pakistan has 175 billion tonnes of coal reserves in Tharparkar alone, which is equivalent to 50 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE), which is more than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran. The gas reserves are equal to 2000 trillion cubic feet (TCF) which is 68 times more than the total gas reserves of Pakistan.
Thar coal can meet Pakistan’s electricity demand for centuries and since not all coal reserves will be used for power generation, surplus coal can have many other uses.
