The Engro Thar Coal Power Project (Thar-ll) is a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

-fired

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

developed as part of the

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (; ur, چین پاکستان اقتصادی راہداری) is a collection of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan beginning in 2013. Originally valued at $47 billi ...

Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) is a joint venture corporation between the Government of Sindh, Hubco and Engro Corporation founded in 2009 tasked to mine and establish power projects from the Block II of the Thar coalfield in Tharparkar. G ...

(a joint venture between the government of Sindh and

Engro Corporation Engro Corporation (Engro), ( ur, ) is a conglomerate headquartered in Karachi. Founded as a fertilizer business in 1965, it is one of the largest companies in the country that employs over 2,600 individuals across the Group and has operatio ...

) and

China Machinery Engineering Corporation China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) is a construction and engineering company, forming one part of the China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach) group of companies. A specialization of CMEC is construction of power proje ...

in the Thar Block-II of the

Thar Coalfield The Thar coalfield is located in Thar Desert, Tharparkar District of Sindh province in Pakistan. The deposits—16th-largest coal reserves in the world, were discovered in 1991 by Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and the United States Agency f ...

Tharparkar District Tharparkar (Dhatki/ sd, ٿرپارڪر, ur, ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar district. The district is the largest in Sin ...

, Sindh,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

25 kilometers from the town of Islamkot near the village of Singharo-Bitra.

Background

In May 2008, the Government of Sindh invited proposals for the development of Thar Coal reserves through a public-private partnership basis. The

(SECMC) was formed as a joint venture between Government of Sindh (GoS) and

in October 2009 in order to develop of mining at Thar Coal Block II of the

Thar coalfield The Thar coalfield is located in Thar Desert, Tharparkar District of Sindh province in Pakistan. The deposits—16th-largest coal reserves in the world, were discovered in 1991 by Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and the United States Agency f ...

. In May 2013, a power company in the name of Thar Power Company Ltd. (THARCO) was incorporated as a subsidiary of SECMC with the mandate to develop the first power project based on coal mined by SECMC. As per the JV agreement, Engro is responsible for Project Management and Financing, while GoS for Infrastructural Development and attaining requisite consents and approvals for the project.

Project details

The first phase of the project will yield 660

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

of electricity, with subsequent phases eventually increasing power generation capacity. The consortium will also develop an adjoining open cast coal mine capable of producing up to 3.8 million tons of coal per year at depths of 135 meters as part of the first phase of the Thar-II Project. The first phase is expected to be completed by early 2019 at a cost of $1.95 billion, with the mine itself costing $789 million. The initial phase will consist of two 330 MW plants which each will have a "Sub-Critical Circulating Fluidized Bed," boiler, steam turbine, and generator. Electricity generated from the project will be connected to the national electricity grid at

Matiari Matyari or Matiari ( sd, مٽیاري, ur, ) is a city located in Sindh, Pakistan. It is north of Hyderabad on N-5 National Highway. Matiari is also the district headquarter of Matiari District. Matiari word is derived from two Sindhi words ...

, from where power can be directed to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

or towards northern Pakistan via the Matiari to Lahore and Matiari to Faisalabad 660 kilovolt transmission lines. In addition to power plant construction, the government of Sindh is currently widening and rehabilitating the road from

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

to the Thar coalfield at a cost of $100 million. The mine will then be expanded to yield 6.5 million tonnes per annum of coal to support two addition 330 MW power plant within one year of completion of the initial 660 MW project. While establishing the mine will cost $789 million, the cost required to increase mine capacity from 3.8 to 6.5 million tons per annum will cost an additional $124.7 million as the incremental cost of mining capacity expansion is low. In Phase II, the mine will be expanded to yield 13.5 million tonnes of coal to support power plants to yield 2400 MW of electricity. In Phase III of the project, the mine will be expanded to yield 19.5 million tonnes of coal annually in order to support 3600 MW of power generation.

Tariff

The

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority ( ur, , abbreviated as NEPRA) is responsible for regulating the electricity supply in Pakistan. It is also responsible for issuing licences for generation, transmission and distribution of electric ...

of Pakistan has agreed to a tariff of 8.5015 cents/unit for the first 330 MW of electricity, 8.3341 cents/unit for the next 660 MW of electricity, and 7.9889 cents/unit for the next 1,099 MW of electricity. The tariff rates are valid for 30 years, and is based on a debt equity ratio of 75:25.

Local effects of the project

The villages of Senhri dars, Seengaro, Bitara, Aban Jo Tar and Thareo Halepoto will require relocation in order to develop the project, at a cost of $62 million. Developers of the project also have pledged to re-fill coal pits once coal reserves are exhausted, and have also pledged to "plant hundreds of thousands of indigenous trees to maintain the natural ecosystem of the desert." Developers of the project also predict that 3,000 unskilled workers will be required for construction, and have stated that all these workers would be recruited from the local Thar population, and an additional 1,400 semi-skilled workers.

References

External links