Shanghai Group seeks permit to make electricity from Thar coal

KARACHI: Shanghai Electric Group on Tuesday approached the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) seeking generation license for its 2x660MW mine-mouth coal-fired power plant in Thar Block-I.

The $1.64 billion project is included in the prioritised list of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and is being developed by Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd, a 100 percent owned company of Shanghai Electric Investment (Dubai) Company Limited.

The company plans to achieve a commercial operation date by the second half of 2018. The electricity generated would be supplied to the national grid.

According to the license application, the main objective of the proposed project is to respond to the Energy Policy 2013, which has set the goals at ensuring the generation of inexpensive and affordable electricity for domestic, commercial and industrial uses by utilising indigenous resources such as coal and water.

Pakistan is in the middle of a major socio-economic crisis because of the non-availability of electricity on a sustained and affordable basis, the application said, citing major supply side constraints, as well as suppression of demand the major causes of this crisis.

Inefficiency in generation, transmission and distribution system has been exacerbated by thefts, leading to higher prices for those who pay their bills.

“With as much as 187 billion tons of brown coal being available locally, Pakistani coal will be able to take the front stage in world trade. Under such conditions the ‘no action’ alternative, which does not consider exploitation of Thar lignite reserves and its use in power generation, does not merit further consideration,” Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd, said in the application.