Engro to start work on Thar coal project next month
Project will be completed in 4 years and initially produce 600MW.
Cushion: $700m is the sovereign guarantee the ECC has approved for Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD:
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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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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