Hubco, FWO Enjazat in deal to scout multi-sector JVs

KARACHI: Hub Power Company (HUBCO) on Thursday said it had struck an agreement with Frontier Works Organization (FWO) Enjazat LLC to scout for joint ventures in energy, water, and quarrying sectors of Pakistan.

The power company in a statement to apex bourse said the FWO Enjazat and Hubco were interested in collaborating on various business opportunities and developing business partnerships across multiple sectors in and out of the country, with a special focus on energy, water recycling and desalination, infrastructure development and mining.

The FWO Enjazat is a partnership between the FWO and the Private Office of his Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Makhtoum, which operates under the name of SEED Group in United Arab Emirates.

The Private Office operates six companies in sectors ranging from food, general trading, real estate and telecom. The Emirati group has more than 25 partnerships with different companies from around the world with investments in more than 21 companies in the UAE and 48 companies from across the globe.

The FWO is a military engineering organisation, and one of the major science and technology commands of the Pakistan Army. It includes active duty officers and civilian scientists and engineers. Since its establishment it has been credited with the construction of bridges, roads, tunnels, airfields and dams in Pakistan, on the orders of the civilian government of Pakistan. The organisation is a large scale developer having multiple businesses across Pakistan, Africa, Middle East and South Asian regions.

Hub Power Company Limited has a combined power generation capacity of over 1600 MW, operated a residual fuel oil (RFO) based thermal plant in Hub, Baluchistan. It supplies a net 1200MW of electricity to the national grid. Its Narowal plant is also an RFO-fired, engine based, combined cycle power station, located in Narowal, Punjab.

To launch new initiatives, the company has formed wholly-owned subsidiaries. For investing in the imported-coal-based 1,320MW power project and other future growth initiatives, the company has incorporated Hub Power Holdings Limited (HPHL).

The company has established Thar Energy Limited, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hub Power Co Ltd to set up a 330 MW mine-mouth coal power plant at Thar Coal Block II Sindh. Moreover, it has also set up China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd (CPHGC) with its joint venture partner China Power International Holdings (CPIH) t undertake the imported coal-based power project through HPHL.

The company is also investing $20 million in Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company Limited (SECMC), a joint venture between Hubco, Engro, Thal Limited, Habib Bank Ltd, China Machinery Engineering Corporation, and government of Sindh, to develop a coalmine at Thar, which has the seventh largest reserves of coal in the world.