Cushion: $700m is the sovereign guarantee the ECC has approved for
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co PHOTO: FILE
Work on the much-awaited coal energy project is going to start next month as a public-private venture will kick off development activity in block-II of Thar coalfield.
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) Chief Executive Officer Shamsuddin Ahmed Shaikh announced this while talking to the media at a briefing in Mithi, Tharparkar on Friday.
In the first phase, the company – a joint venture between the Sindh government and Engro Corporation – has planned to produce 600 megawatts of electricity through a coal-fired power plant in Thar. The project, according to Shaikh, will be completed in four years.
The company will be liable to pay damages if it fails to meet the deadline. In the second and third phases, power production will be scaled up to 4,000MW.
“We will hire 3,000 to 4,000 locals, who will be offered free technical training and diploma courses for capacity building,” he said.
SECMC plans to hire around 1,300 skilled workers and thousands of semi-skilled and unskilled labour for the project. Coal will be extracted through open pit mining.
Block-II, which has been allotted to SECMC, covers an area of 95.5 square kilometres and holds estimated reserves of two billion tons of coal, of which 1.57 billion tons are recoverable.
According to Shaikh, the bankable feasibility study, which has confirmed technical and commercial viability of the project, has been completed with the assistance of consultants from Germany, China, the UK and Hagler Bailly of Pakistan. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has also approved a $700 million sovereign guarantee for SECMC.
SECMC’s block-II is estimated to have only 1% of the total reserves in Thar. The government has expressed determination to meet the country’s energy needs over the next decade through harnessing the resource. Many foreign and domestic firms have shown interest in making investment in Thar coal projects.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2013.
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@Cautious .. All the fertilizer plants have in house power plants for utilities. They don't need electricity from outside sources.. All they need is availability of natural gas. They use natural gas for operating boilers/furnaces etc and mostly run compressors/pumps by directly coupling them to turbines, instead of using electricity. Please stop spreading misinformation
@ Cautious : I pity your knowledge / understanding of coal + engro , however ,without a doubt if venture does anything it would be way more than that of Fertilizer plants , for your knowledge base try to go through PnLs of Coal based power generation plants of world + Open pit mines . if you had tried to look past your bias against engro , it would have been real clear to you that financing of a project never takes place unless there is a prosper buyer , so if there is no firm market for power produced the project won't take place + if you had any chance to see the reports of US and Pakistan's experts of Geological survey , you would have trusted the fact that there is no limited coal available via mining open pit , and it is no comparison to Gasification , which is a benefaction process !
I pity such fallacy you put ur self in ...... Please don't misguide the nation : ) . Cherio
now that asad umar is gone from engro, there is a chance of it happening finally.
@Well Wisher. Rubbish. Engro risks nothing on this venture and isn't doing this for the benefit of the Pakistani people. What Engro wants is for the taxpayers to fund a new energy source for it's fertilizer plant. If the venture does anything it will be small - cherry pick the limited coal available by open pit mining (vs coal gasification) and the entire output will go to Engro. Also - since Engro has enough political clout to make Pakistan pay for the project you can bet it has enough political clout to insure that it won't pay market for whatever energy is produced.
@Cautious :
Some one has to become the first drop of rain , and if the company is ready to leverage its reputation into such mega project if this project goes down so would engro , it would be much of a risk for the betterment of the Pakistan , unlike many others who have done nothing on ground , rather negative criticisim. Its not only the tax payers wealth , its also the company's wealth equally dangered along with its reputation
@Going going gone: Before commenting on CCP I would advise you to read the Competition Act, 2010..
@Going going gone: Before commenting against CCP it's better that you read Competition Act, 2010 and get complete understanding of it..
ENGRO investing again the CCP should fine them immediately for any future price increases of coal.
According to Shaikh, the bankable feasibility study, which has confirmed technical and commercial viability of the project, has been completed with the assistance of consultants from Germany, China, the UK and Hagler Bailly of Pakistan. . If it's so bankable then why hasn't Engro been able to find any financial institution to bank the project? It's obvious that the feasibility study isn't bankable. Engro like every other Thar Coal lease holder doesn't have the mining expertise and can't find any legitimate mining or financial partners to pursue this project - what it has done is use it's influence to get the Pakistani govt to put the taxpayers at risk. Shame on them - shame on the Pakistani govt.
Hopefully no Noora this time to prevent coal excavation & forcefully pursue KBD like in the 90s.
Waiting for the day when there will be no loadsheding in my sweet country. there will be peace, business, education & prosperity everywhere.
Good Luck!