Govt achieves financial close for 330MW coal plant

ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday achieved financial close for 330MW Thar coal-fired power plant, scheduled to achieve commercial operations by March 2021 at a cost of $497 million.

The financial closing for the mine-mouth lignite coal power project at Thar Block-II has been achieved with 25 percent equity and 75 percent debt ratio. Lead lenders of the project are China Development Bank (CDB) and Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), as per officials.

Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and Thal Limited CEO Saleemullah Memon signed the documents. ThalNova Power Thar Private Limited (TNPTL) CEO Saleemullah Memon said, “We have engaged CDB for the foreign financing from China and HBL as the lead arranger for the financing in Pakistan.”

TNPTL is an associated company of Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO), which holds 38.3 percent stake in TNPTL through Hub Power Holding. The project is sponsored by Thal Limited, Novatex Limited, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Descon Engineering Limited, and falls under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

HUBCO CEO Khalid Mansoor said, “Being a domestic source of energy fuel, TNTPL would fortify the energy security of the country. The project would be amongst the first few of power plants utilising Thar coal and would bring about substantial savings in foreign exchange of the country.” The plant would be fuelled by coal extracted from Thar Block-II by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and it would utilise 1.9 million tons of coal to generate 2,236GWh per annum.