ISLAMABAD: The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) has announced achievement of Commercial Operation Date (COD) of 330MW ThalNova Power Project, another Thar coal based power project located at Thar Block-II.

According to an official statement, this significant development is another achievement in PPIB’s endeavours to provide cheap and indigenous electricity to the national grid.

Sponsored by a joint venture comprising HUBCO, Thal Limited, Novatex Limited, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), and Descon with investment of $497.7 million, ThalNova Power is a mine-mouth lignite-fired power plant at Thar Coal Block-II Sindh and is a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The plant will be fuelled by coal extracted from Thar Block-II by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company and will utilize 1.9 million tons of coal to generate 2.24 billion units of electricity per annum with anticipated annual savings of Rs55 billion.

With this latest addition, total production of electricity from five Thar coal based power generation plants has reached to mammoth 3,300 which indicates growing interest of investors. Prior to ThalNova, PPIB has already facilitated commissioning of four Thar coal based project having gross capacity of 2,970 MW, namely 660MW Engro, 660MW Lucky, 330MW Hubco and 1320MW Shanghai Thar power projects, all of which are at Top of NPCCs merit order list.

PPIB claims that commissioning of ThalNova will result in huge annual savings of foreign exchange outflow and reduce dependence on imported fuels while cumulative estimated reduction in fuel bill from 3,300MW will be Rs550 billion after which basket price of electricity shall also be reduced significantly. Additionally, the ThalNova Project will play pivotal role for bringing prosperity to local and regional communities and improving living of local Thari people by generating employment and business opportunities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023