The signing ceremony of Letter of Interest (LoI) with Shanghai Electric Group Company Ltd (SEGCL) for development of 2x660MW indigenous coal based power project in Thar was held on Friday at Ministry of Water and Power. Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Secretary Water and Power Mohammad Younus Dagha, Managing Director PPIB Shah Jahan Mirza and other senior officials of PPIB, NTDCL and Ministry of Water and Power witnessed the ceremony.
The LoI was signed by Shah Jahan Mirza, Managing Director PPIB and from the company's side it was signed by Meng Donghai, Director SEGCL. SEGCL will develop a project of 1320MW (2x660MW each) utilising indigenous Thar lignite coal to be supplied by Sino-Sindh Resources which is the lease holder of Thar Block-I. Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the abundant coal resource largely remains unexploited till date are estimated at around 186 billion tons out of which 175 billion tons are found in Thar alone.
He said, "Our government is committed to develop Pakistan's local coal resources and utilise them for power generation, thus realising our dream of making Thar as the energy capital of Pakistan in coming years." The sponsors of the project had signed equity investment agreement with China Coal Technology and Engineering Group Corp and Joint Venture Agreement with Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited during the visit of the Chinese President to Pakistan.
The project is a proof of the Government of Pakistan's sincere interest of utilising Thar coal for power generation and its development will reduce Pakistan's dependence on costly oil based power generation, thus saving millions of dollars of foreign exchange. It is expected that the project will start its commercial production during the year 2018. The 1320MW Thar coal based power project will be using Steam Turbine technology and selling power to National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) on signing of a 30 years term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). It is pertinent to mention here that the SEGCL is in the list of priority projects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).