Pakistan’s only coal-fired power plant gathering dust since 2006

The plant was leased to Jamshoro Joint Venture, but has been shuttered after its labour union sued the govt.

KARACHI:

Out of order since 2006, two units of the Lakhra Power Plant – the only coal-fired power plant in Pakistan – will continue to be nonoperational since the Water and Power Development Authority has not disbursed the plant’s maintenance fund, apparently due to a leasing dispute.

According to sources, two units of 50 megawatts each of the Lakhra Power Plant – based in Lakhra coal field, Dadu District of Sindh – had been out of order and not maintained at all since 2006 over a leasing issue, leading Wapda, which operates the plant, to cease funding the plant’s maintenance.

In 2006, the plant was leased to Jamshoro Joint Venture with the understanding that the machinery and staff of the plant would remain under Wapda’s jurisdiction while JJV will invest in power generation and overhauling of the plant.

The labour union at the plant, however, challenged the lease of the plant and managed to get stay orders from the Sindh High Court. The SHC eventually decided in favour of JJV, following which the union took the case to the Supreme Court, which has yet to decide the case.

In 1995, the China-based Dongfang Electric Company (DEC) had constructed the plant with three units of 50MW each. DEC had recommended that all three units should go through a complete overhaul every four to five years; the source said. He added the Chinese firm also recommended that each plant should operate for three weeks and remain closed for maintenance in the last week. Coal dust damages the tubes of the machinery, which requires regular maintenance.

Both the units are in desperate need of rehabilitation. Nevertheless Wapda has so far refused to spend anything to fix the broken-down units unless the Supreme Court gives its verdict, a source familiar with the matter said.

Wapda could fix these units but they are scared that the change in government may hand it over to some private company again, said another source whose company provides coal to the plant.

While they admit that maintenance funds have not been released for the two units, Wapda officials ruled out the possibility of any technical issues.

“There is no technical problem with the plant,” said Ghulam Hussain Dahree, Wapda’s resident engineer at the thermal generation facility. “We have both coal and limestone available for production. The only problem is of funding without which the units cannot be made operational,” he said.

The plant was closed in 2006 when it was leased to JJV, Dahree said. “The maintenance expense has become an issue since then,” he added. However, he explained that Wapda has decided to run the third unit and bear all of its expenses. Regarding the lease issue, he said, there has been some progress in the case and another hearing is scheduled this month.

The project – that included Lakhra Coal Mine and Lakhra Power Generation Plant – was proposed in 1986 to meet the then energy requirement of the country. According to the proposal, the coal mine had to be developed and operated by private sector companies while the power plant had to be operated by Wapda. The proposed plants were to have a capacity between 300MW and 700MW.

The closure of two units has deprived the national grid of at least 60MW as none of the units could meet its production capacity of 50MW. Talking about the capacity of these units, Dahree said, the Chinese plants are usually of capacity up to 25MW while those at Lakhra Power Plant were designed to produce 50MW on a trial basis.

“Even when Chinese engineers were here, the plant did not work on full capacity,” Dahree said, “so they decided to reduce its output to 40MW for each unit.”

According to sources, the third unit – which has also been closed recently for regular maintenance – was producing between 30MW and 35MW. Dahree, however, said these units can produce 40MW and can be upgraded to meet 50MW – a target these units were designed to meet.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2012.