Development: KE, Chinese firms to invest $1b in plants

Power plants to use coal as fuel, to be built in vicinity of Port Qasim.

KARACHI: K-Electric (KE) and two Chinese companies have signed a firm agreement to build two 350-megawatt power plants in Karachi with an investment of approximately $1 billion, a KE notice to the stock exchange said on Tuesday.

The power plants will use coal as fuel and will be built in the vicinity of Port Qasim but it remains unclear when the actual construction will start.

China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), which specialises in construction of power plants and the overseas investment arm of China Datang Corporation are the two other partners in the venture.

“This agreement follows the MOU that we had signed earlier,” said Usama Qureshi, the KE spokesman. “It basically deals with the responsibilities of each of the parties.”

The electric company is close to the completion of its acquisition process of 200 acres of land in the Textile City, which is located near Port Qasim. A coal import terminal is already being built by a local company at the port.

The project will be financed on the basis of 75%-25% debt-equity ratio. KE has 24% stake in the project while CMEC and Datang have 25% and 51%, respectively.

The news of the investment comes at a time when the federal government is considering discontinuing supply of 650MW to Karachi from the national grid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2015.

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