PPIB energizes national grid with 1320 MW from Thar project

ISLAMABAD: Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) on February 5 announced the achievement of the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the country’s largest Thar coal-based power project located at Thar Block-1, having a generation capacity of 1320 MW.

The 1320 MW Shanghai project has been implemented under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said a press release issued here Tuesday. The Project is developed by Thar Coal Block-1 Power Generation Co., a fully owned subsidiary of Shanghai Electric. The Project has attracted valuable foreign direct investment of $1,912 million which is expected to generate 9 billion units of electricity per annum with anticipated savings of Rs. 250 billion/annum. The successful commissioning of this project is another example of PPIB’s effectiveness towards promoting Thar coal for power generation.

With this latest addition, the total production of electricity from four Thar coal-based power generation plants has reached 2,970 MW while 330 MW by the ThalNova project is also under testing and expected to achieve COD soon. PPIB has already facilitated the commissioning of three projects with a total capacity of 1,650 MW, including the 660 MW Engro, 660 MW Lucky, and 330 MW Hubco Thar power projects, all of which are at Top of NPCCs merit order list.

Commissioning of the project will result in significant savings of foreign reserves and reduce dependence on imported fuels and the basket price of electricity shall also be reduced significantly.