Thar coal-based project achieves financial close

Project is being completed under CPEC at cost of $497 million

ISLAMABAD:

Another 330-megawatt Thar coal-based power generation project has achieved financial close.

The financial close documents for the mine-mouth lignite coal power project at Thar block-II were signed by Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and Thal Limited CEO Saleemullah Memon on Thursday. The project, sponsored by Thal Limited, Novatex Limited and Descon Engineering Limited, under the banner of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is being completed at a cost of $497 million.

The plant will be fuelled by coal extracted from Thar block-II by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company and will utilise 1.9 million tons of coal to generate 2,236 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per annum.

After start of commercial operation, the project will save billions of rupees in foreign exchange per year and the saving will further escalate when all Thar coal-based projects of 5,000MW are operational, thus drastically reducing the tariff due to the use of domestically produced coal. The plant will be connected with the Matiari-Lahore transmission line for the transmission of electricity.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2020.

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