Pakistan is looking into possibility of procuring coal from Indonesia for its coal-fired power generation projects. A pre-bid conference was arranged in Indonesia's capital Jakarta to procure coal for 1320 mega watt government-owned Jamshoro Power Plant, funded by the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
A delegation of Ministry of Water and Power led by Secretary Younus Dagha attended the pre-bid conference which was joined by Indonesian coal suppliers and Indonesian Coal Mining Association. Secretary Younus Dagha apprised the Indonesian investors that Pakistan required 15-20 million tons of coal from Indonesia annually once the plants become operational.
Dagha was of the view that since Indonesia was the largest exporter of mid calorific value (CV) coal in the world, Pakistan expected from the companies of the brotherly companies to not only supply coal but also help Pakistan in developing Thar Coal reserves and invest in Thar Coal. He informed the Indonesian companies that Pakistan was constructing four coal-fired power plants of over 1000MW each, which would be completed by end of 2017.
He expressed interest in importing Indonesian mid CV coal of 4,600 to 6,000 Kcal/kg to generate power. The participants were informed that one power plant was government-owned and three were owned by private sector. CEO of Jamshoro Power Company Limited, Engr Iftikhar Aziz said that 3.5 million tons of 4750 to 6000 kcal/ kg coal was needed from Indonesia annually for that plant alone for which 10 suppliers would be short-listed and also a Coal Supply Agreement would be signed with them.
The last date of submission of bid to the Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad is March 29, 2016. The delegation had meeting with Indonesian Coal Mining Association Executive Director Supriatna Suhala and Vice Chairman. Suhala said the total coal production in Indonesia was estimated at around 425 million tons per year but reduced demand from China had a major impact on the coal price which had plunged to $50/ton. In 2015, coal imports from China fell by 30 percent from last year.
"As a result of the low price, Indonesian coal miners have cut production volumes by about 20 percent. The new Pakistani market is a welcome news for Indonesia exporters and we will provide competitive rates to Pakistan." After the conference, Secretary Younus Dagha visited the Pakistan Embassy and exchanged views with Pakistan Ambassador, Aqil Nadeem regarding various aspects of coal import from Indonesia.
Comments
Comments are closed.