Pakistan's First Coal Power Project Starts Functioning

[American Pakistani]

• was..it is cheap now..(except in pakistan corrupt deal of quaid i azam solar park)
• solar rates are now comparable to coal..
• look at india ...
• only problem is it being fluctuating source which makes it unsustainable
• space?????..we have whole cholistan and tal and thar areas where you can lay them for miles and they are close to grid too

pakistan can use solar as source and dams as battery to power its grid

I'm sure there must be many issues with solar for Pakistan. Plus we still be spending the capital on importing solar panels. As for installing solar electricity units right next to india border will mean a threat forever in case of war. Something which I personally wish could happen, Pakistan generating electricity and usable (even drinking) water both, from sea.

• was..it is cheap now..(except in pakistan corrupt deal of quaid i azam solar park)
• solar rates are now comparable to coal..
• look at india ...
• only problem is it being fluctuating source which makes it unsustainable
• space?????..we have whole cholistan and tal and thar areas where you can lay them for miles and they are close to grid too

pakistan can use solar as source and dams as battery to power its grid

I'm sure there must be many issues with solar for Pakistan. Plus we still be spending the capital on importing solar panels. As for installing solar electricity units right next to india border will mean a threat forever in case of war. Something which I personally wish could happen, Pakistan generating electricity and usable (even drinking) water both, from sea.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

• was..it is cheap now..(except in pakistan corrupt deal of quaid i azam solar park)
• solar rates are now comparable to coal..
• look at india ...
• only problem is it being fluctuating source which makes it unsustainable
• space?????..we have whole cholistan and tal and thar areas where you can lay them for miles and they are close to grid too

pakistan can use solar as source and dams as battery to power its grid

If solar is cheap why they never used it until after the Cold War ended? It's not reliable power. Pakistan needs reliable power. Coal can provide that. Solar can't.

100 MW for 500 acres is a waste. A coal plant can generate thousands of MW for less than 100 acres. Pakistan has high population density. Fresh water is precious. Solar power is not suitable for Pakistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaid-e-Azam_Solar_Park

Coal is getting cleaner and more efficient. Solar at its current technology cannot compete with coal in high population density countries.

https://www.ge.com/reports/answering-pakistans-burning-question-ignite-lignite/

 

[ziaulislam]

If solar is cheap why they never used it until after the Cold War ended? It's not reliable power. Pakistan needs reliable power. Coal can provide that. Solar can't.

100 MW for 500 acres is a waste. A coal plant can generate thousands of MW for less than 100 acres. Pakistan has high population density. Fresh water is precious. Solar power is not suitable for Pakistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaid-e-Azam_Solar_Park

Coal is getting cleaner and more efficient. Solar at its current technology cannot compete with coal in high population density countries.

https://www.ge.com/reports/answering-pakistans-burning-question-ignite-lignite/

you missed the world "is" and "was"

just thal desert is enough to get 30-40GW of solar power..but its not stable..there is no space problem

 

[nahtanbob]

The Thar coal deposits were only discovered 30 years ago. We had dumb politicians that chose to relay on gulf oil and built only oil fired generators. So even today a big portion of our electricity come from oil.

We didn't have the luxury of the British finding and developing coal mines hundreds of years ago like India had. But don't worry, give 20 years, and we will be digging out more. Our reserves are in a lightly inhabited desert so we should be able to mine as much as is economically feasible without locals and environmentalist stopping us. I know its hard accept for you buts that's the reality.

your politicians are not dumb. they are smart enough to loot. if the coal deposits really exist on the scale mentioned they would have looted it by now

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

your politicians are not dumb. they are smart enough to loot. if the coal deposits really exist on the scale mentioned they would have looted it by now

Asians are not like Whites, looting everything they can get their hands on. Asians are one with mother nature.

you missed the world "is" and "was"

just thal desert is enough to get 30-40GW of solar power..but its not stable..there is no space problem

Believe what you want. That's a good reason solar power was never used until after Cold War ended.

 

[CrazyZ]

Asians are not like Whites, looting everything they can get their hands on. Asians are one with mother nature.



Believe what you want. That's a good reason solar power was never used until after Cold War ended.

Enough with this solar vs coal debate. Pakistan has huge potential in both and should exploit both. Check out this thread:
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/gravitational-potential-energy-storage-solar.609149/

Solar prices have come down a lot but in order to viable on a large scale (20GW-30GW) it has to incorporate energy storage because of its low capacity factor (35% for solar vs 70% for coal). Solar + Storage is probably still more expensive than coal or hydro but its getting more competitive every year. Pakistan should encourage solar water heaters and PV on homes that can afford it, but coal and hydro have to be the priority's right now.

 

[Kabotar]

your politicians are not dumb. they are smart enough to loot. if the coal deposits really exist on the scale mentioned they would have looted it by now

What makes you think they are not doing it right now? Do you think they are giving these contracts for free?

Here is Doctor Samar Mubarak talking about what happened to his Thar coal gasification pilot project. Short summary is his team was promised RS. 9b for gasification pilot project only RS. 3b were released with it they successful in gasifying coal but also started producing 10MWs of electricity. On 28th may 2015 they informed the government they were told to pack up and fvck off.

 

[nahtanbob]

Asians are not like Whites, looting everything they can get their hands on. Asians are one with mother nature.

are pakistanis asian ?

 

[ziaulislam]

Asians are not like Whites, looting everything they can get their hands on. Asians are one with mother nature.



Believe what you want. That's a good reason solar power was never used until after Cold War ended.

that reason was lack of cheaper material, technology and production..just like mobile phones were not used in 1990s!!.. i brought solar pannel for my village it cost me 7rs/unit on return of 10 years(this inculdes inventor and batteries!!!) while coal from thar is costing 8 cents/unit..on RR of 20 years!

so i am talking from personal experience, sure you can google it and find gizzlions of links supporting my claim

 

[Canuck786]

are pakistanis asian ?

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

are pakistanis asian ?

yeah

that reason was lack of cheaper material, technology and production..just like mobile phones were not used in 1990s!!.. i brought solar pannel for my village it cost me 7rs/unit on return of 10 years(this inculdes inventor and batteries!!!) while coal from thar is costing 8 cents/unit..on RR of 20 years!

so i am talking from personal experience, sure you can google it and find gizzlions of links supporting my claim

Solar does not provide reliable energy. In Cold War the US used coal and nuclear as energy backbone to beat Communism.

 

[RealNapster]

In 2040. China will be still fullfilling 32% of its energy needs through coal.

Need to rapidly ramp up production from Thar coal. This is the first plant just producing 330MW, we should have been producing 10,000 MW from Thar coal. Instead the "democratic" governments of PPP and PML-N focused on expensive imported furnance oil or LPG for power generation.


The 20 years of these two parties from 1990-1999 and 2008-2018 have really set Pakistan back.

The only problem (at this stage) is cost of Production. Which is 7 cents per unit. Thats too high for a coal Power projects. Now i know that it included the ore related expenditures too as engro will have to recover that billion dollar too. But Nepra should ASAP review the prices for 2nd stage of Power plants on thar mines. Set the price 5 cents per unit or even low and ensure the timely start and completion of those plants that will come in 2nd stage. As for the first stage, some 4-5 plants were cleared and pruces set by NEPRA (7 cents per unit). And only 1 of those plants is completed. So if things remaind that slow, it means we will still be buying thar power for 7 cents till 2022-24.

It is a Pakistani CEO who is pulling the numbers of thin air

Look at coal reserves and coal production by country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_by_country

Did you cared to read the very last line below the table in your own link ?

 

[nahtanbob]

you should educate @undertakerwwefan on the virtues of your politicians

View attachment 547987

Did you cared to read the very last line below the table in your own link ?

View attachment 547988

Did you care to look at the numbers in the table ? If the reserves were 185 billion Pakistan would be number two in the world in terms of coal reserves. Feel free to make that claim in any industry or trade publication.

 

[Arsalan]

@Arsalan This is a great achievement, one that I am happy to recognize as a step forward. If sustained, this will help Pakistan's energy situation and reduce energy imports at the same time. Bravo!

Indeed. This is the first 330MW unit of 660MW power plant with second one getting operational in April. I hope we work on more low price Coal powered generation plants and add 2000MW to 3000MW in next three to four years. All hydro power projects will take time to complete and gas/LNG have been VERY expensive.

 

[Moonlight]

@Arsalan This is a great achievement, one that I am happy to recognize as a step forward. If sustained, this will help Pakistan's energy situation and reduce energy imports at the same time. Bravo!

WOW.