Thar coal to generate 10,000 MW by 2020: Sindh governor
KARACHI: The Sindh government has devised a plan to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Thar coal by the year 2020.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan said federal government has been approached for laying a transmission line to take electricity from Thar field to national grid.
Presiding over a meeting on Thar coal he said installation of transmission network was the integral part of the plan, which should be ready by the time, power projects were ready to generate electricity from Thar coal.
He pointed out Thar coal would be utilised to make Pakistan self sufficient in power generation to strengthen economy and make this area as the hub of petrochemical industry.
He was of the opinion approval of transmission network by the federal government was vital for the successful progress of Thar coal project. All the stakeholders and financial institutions can play more effective role when transmission network takes a final shape, he added.
Provincial Secretary Coal and Energy Development Younus Dagha briefed the meeting on the progress of Thar coal project. He said at least 2,400 MW of power would be generated under the project in next three years. About 25,000 MW will be generated from Thar coal in next 17 years, he added.
He said laying of transmission line is planned to be completed in two phases by June 2014 at a cost of Rs 21 billion.
He said Thar coal field is the 7th largest coal reserves in the world with nearly 175 billion tonnes of black gold equivalent to 50 billion of crude oil (TOEs).
This is larger than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran and equal to 2000 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves.
He said Sindh has a total of 186 billion tonnes of coal, Punjab 235 billion tonnes, Balochistan 217 billion tonnes, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa 90 billion tonnes and Azad Jammu Kashmir 9 billion tonnes of coal reserves.
Dagha said Thar coalfield has been declared as special economic zone where the rate of return on investment is 20 percent in dollar terms. In addition, the import of machinery, equipment and vehicles for the coal site is duty free while withholding tax, excise duty and other levies are exempted for initial 30 years, he added.
He informed three road network schemes costing Rs 9.6 billion would be completed in the area by the end of 2012. These included a 200-kilometer road connecting Thar coalfield to Karachi via Thatta and Badin.
Similarly, effluent disposal system will be completed by December 2012 at a cost of Rs 3.7 billion to flush out water from Thar coalfield. Three reverse osmosis plants for producing clean drinking water and rescue station have already been completed at the site, he said. app
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
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Thar coal gasified project has completed successfully on Wednesday, member of the Science and Technology Planning Commission, Dr Samar Mubarakmand, said.
Talking to Aaj news, he said that the project would bring prosperity in the country. “Pakistan has enough coal reserves that can provide electricity to the country for more than 500 years,” he said.
He said that development work is in progress and the first 50 megawatts gasified project has almost been completed.
He said that the project is to cost Rs8.898 billion with a foreign exchange component of Rs 5.847 billion that was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council last year.
Dr Mubarakmand said that the success of the Thar coal project will lead to investment from the leading international companies.
He said that several foreign companies wanted to participate in the project and had shown interest.
He said that fifty per cent coal-fired power generation works has already been done, while the rest would be completed within a months.
With the completion of this project, the nation would get cheap and sufficient power supply thus resolving the current pestering energy crisis, he added.
Dr. Samar said it is for the first time in Pakistan that the coal gasification is being launched on commercial basis and abundant and cheap electricity will be available.
He said the coal gasification was already producing 50000MW around the world, as the cost of electricity per unit is relatively low.
He said the four continents in the world are working on this project, as this method has enhanced energy efficiency reaching to 76 per cent.
He said the new growth strategy of the country is being emphasised on power generation through coal.
He said our installed capacity of thermal generation is 12000MW against hydel generation of 9000MW.
Thar coal project