Chinese assistance sought for coal gasification

Project will be taken up in bilateral talks slated for this week.

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, in its efforts to give a push to the coal gasification project initiated by scientist Samar Mubarakmand, is seeking Chinese help for developing a large underground gasification facility in Thar coal fields.

Pakistani and Chinese officials are expected to take up this proposal in upcoming talks which will be held in Islamabad this week, officials say.

The government has also assured Mubarakmand of the release of funds for the underground gasification project, which requires Rs8 billion to generate 100 megawatts of electricity. Earlier, during the tenure of the previous government, progress on the project had been hampered by delay in release of financing.

According to sources, a high-level meeting, held on July 11 and chaired by Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, discussed proposals to be submitted to the prime minister for developing Thar coal fields for power generation.

The minister highlighted the looming energy crisis and underlined the need for tapping coal resources present in the country to bridge the gap between demand and supply of gas and electricity.



The director general minerals gave a comprehensive presentation covering the overview of coal resources, status of Thar coal fields and development challenges. He proposed technical cooperation with China, the US and India for integrated coal mining and power production and developing a test pit in Block 5 of Thar fields to determine mining methods and cost.

In the meeting, Mubarakmand supported digging the test pit in Block 5 where a pilot study for underground gasification was already in progress. Coal excavated from the pit can be used for overground gasification.

He also made a presentation on the status of the underground coal gasification project and its worldwide status.

Pointing out that in the challenging geology of Thar coal fields mining could be expensive and difficult because of multiple layers of aquifers, he said the underground gasification technology could overcome the challenge.

Mubarakmand suggested that for a large-scale underground gasification project, Pakistan could collaborate with China Coal and Mining Technology University.

He also highlighted that the delay in release of funds had hampered progress on the project as Rs8 billion was needed to set up a 100MW power plant.

The meeting participants decided to seek Chinese assistance for clearing concepts and developing a large-scale underground gasification facility. They also agreed to facilitate the release for funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2013.

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