Thar Coal – The future of energy in Pakistan
Blog counters misconceptions created by ‘professionals’.
KARACHI:
Lately, I have seen many articles written by professionals from around the world stating as to why Thar coal is not suitable for generating electricity. I am truly shocked to read how misinformed these professionals are and how little they know about the facts on the ground when they oppose the development of one of the most precious and direly needed hydrocarbon resources of Pakistan.
The articles have been published in various newspapers and it was only right for me to start a separate blog that focuses on removing the misconceptions that these writers have created in the minds of the people.
First of all, Thar coal is minable – there is no question about that. Though I tend to agree that open-pit mining is expensive, international coal prices have recently risen to levels which justify such large investments. Even in an open-pit mining scenario, the net price of raw coal works out to less than $7 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), which is almost 35% of the price of residual fuel oil (the most commonly used fuel in Pakistan).
Secondly, Thar coalfields probably provide the most abundant hydrocarbon resource. Net minable reserves of the 10 blocks, covering around 1,000 square km, are around 30 billion tons. This is not a hypothesis and is based upon actual studies and drilling data.
Collectively, the 10 blocks can produce more than 100 million tons per annum of lignite coal which will be sufficient to generate 15,000 megawatts of electricity. In fact, the production capacity can easily be multiplied by a factor of five if incremental investments can be attracted to the mining of these blocks. The same coal can be briquetted and exported to consuming countries within the region.
Thirdly, Thar coal is of acceptable quality. Those who say that it is of bad quality do not know the business deeply. Net calorific value of Thar coal is around 11,000 kg which is acceptable internationally.
No one denies the high moisture content of Thar coal, but with the current state of technology the moisture can be significantly reduced by a drying process and its heating value will increase to around 19,000 kg which will make Thar coal equivalent to most coal qualities traded between Indonesia, China and India.
It is estimated that around 5,000MW of installed thermal capacity can be immediately converted from residual fuel oil to coal which will allow the mining of around 30 million tons of raw coal from Thar.
And lastly, coal gasification is a proven technology for small scale production and there is no technical reason as to why it cannot succeed on a medium to large scale. We should support those companies which are spending money and time to find a cost-effective way to extract coal energy from Thar. Any attempt otherwise will be counter-intuitive. However, this does not mean that open-pit mining is unviable.
There is no question or doubt that Thar coal is transportable and combustible. Yes, the coal is low in calorific value but that only means that it requires further processing to enhance the heating value.
We live in an age where natural fruits are available out of season with the same freshness of fresh fruits, and still we suspect that we may not be able to make coal transportable anywhere in the country. I am not proposing a fantasy; this is doable; all we need is positive thinking and hard work.
The writer is an engineer by training and chief executive officer of Sino Sindh Resources (Private) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Mining China.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.
Lately, I have seen many articles written by professionals from around the world stating as to why Thar coal is not suitable for generating electricity. I am truly shocked to read how misinformed these professionals are and how little they know about the facts on the ground when they oppose the development of one of the most precious and direly needed hydrocarbon resources of Pakistan.
The articles have been published in various newspapers and it was only right for me to start a separate blog that focuses on removing the misconceptions that these writers have created in the minds of the people.
First of all, Thar coal is minable – there is no question about that. Though I tend to agree that open-pit mining is expensive, international coal prices have recently risen to levels which justify such large investments. Even in an open-pit mining scenario, the net price of raw coal works out to less than $7 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), which is almost 35% of the price of residual fuel oil (the most commonly used fuel in Pakistan).
Secondly, Thar coalfields probably provide the most abundant hydrocarbon resource. Net minable reserves of the 10 blocks, covering around 1,000 square km, are around 30 billion tons. This is not a hypothesis and is based upon actual studies and drilling data.
Collectively, the 10 blocks can produce more than 100 million tons per annum of lignite coal which will be sufficient to generate 15,000 megawatts of electricity. In fact, the production capacity can easily be multiplied by a factor of five if incremental investments can be attracted to the mining of these blocks. The same coal can be briquetted and exported to consuming countries within the region.
Thirdly, Thar coal is of acceptable quality. Those who say that it is of bad quality do not know the business deeply. Net calorific value of Thar coal is around 11,000 kg which is acceptable internationally.
No one denies the high moisture content of Thar coal, but with the current state of technology the moisture can be significantly reduced by a drying process and its heating value will increase to around 19,000 kg which will make Thar coal equivalent to most coal qualities traded between Indonesia, China and India.
It is estimated that around 5,000MW of installed thermal capacity can be immediately converted from residual fuel oil to coal which will allow the mining of around 30 million tons of raw coal from Thar.
And lastly, coal gasification is a proven technology for small scale production and there is no technical reason as to why it cannot succeed on a medium to large scale. We should support those companies which are spending money and time to find a cost-effective way to extract coal energy from Thar. Any attempt otherwise will be counter-intuitive. However, this does not mean that open-pit mining is unviable.
There is no question or doubt that Thar coal is transportable and combustible. Yes, the coal is low in calorific value but that only means that it requires further processing to enhance the heating value.
We live in an age where natural fruits are available out of season with the same freshness of fresh fruits, and still we suspect that we may not be able to make coal transportable anywhere in the country. I am not proposing a fantasy; this is doable; all we need is positive thinking and hard work.
The writer is an engineer by training and chief executive officer of Sino Sindh Resources (Private) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Mining China.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.