Chinese firm gets LoS for 1,320MW project at Hub

ISLAMABAD: The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Friday issued Letter of Support (LoS) to China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Limited (CPHGCL) for development of 1,320MW imported coal-based power generation project at Hub, Balochistan.

As per the statement, the document was signed by PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and CPHGCL CEO Zhao Yonggang, whereas the project has been sponsored by Hub Power Company Limited and China Power International Holdings.

Being included as ‘Priority Project’ under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, this project assumes further importance, the statement added.

“The project shall be instrumental in socio-economic uplift of the remote area of Hub, besides generating employment opportunities for the local population.

The project development is progressing at a rapid pace and it is expected that it will come online by 2019,” the statement added.  In order to get sufficient and affordable electricity in a short time, the PPIB has been mandated by the government to process power generation projects utilising coal, hydro and R-LNG through private sector.

As a result of efficient processing by the PPIB, so far two coal-fired power projects of 2,640MW that include 1,320MW Power Project by Sinohydro Resources/Al-MirqabCapital Qatar at Port Qasim in Sindh and 1,320MW Power Project by Huaneng Shandong Ruyi at Sahiwal in Punjab have already started construction activities.

The 2 x 330MW Thar coal based EngroPowergen at Thar Block-II, after achieving financial close, has entered into the construction phase. With proactive support of the PPIB, all the project related activities were timely completed which lead to the ground breaking of the project recently on April 11, 2016, the statement said.

The PPIB also holds the honour of paving way for hydro IPPs in the country through successful completion of 84MW New Bong Escape Hydropower Project by HUBCO group.

Currently, 147MW Patrind and 102MW Gulpur Hydropower Projects are under construction, which are expected to be completed by April 2017 and October 2019 respectively.