The construction work on 15 projects of total 19 power projects has been initiated, of which 12 projects will be completed by the end of 2018 under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Muhammad Younas Dagha on Thursday, while giving a presentation to the Public Accounts Comm-ittee (PAC) said that the Chinese companies will invest in five Thar coal projects, four imported coal projects, four wind, three hydro, one solar and in one 660 kV transmission line between Sindh and Punjab.
According to the presentation, the Ministry of Water and Power submitted before the PAC that Thar coal projects in Thar Block, Sindh, would bring 3960MW in the national grid, imported coal, 4260 MW, hydro, 2714MW, solar, 900MW, and wind would add 300 MW into the system.
Sindh would get the lion''s share of 5,580MW in the energy projects under the CPEC, followed by Punjab, 2,940 MW, Balochistan, 1,620 MW, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 1,124MW, whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would get 870MW under the project. The committee members expressed reservations whether the existing railways infrastructure would cater for the transportation of coal for the energy project. The secretary said that these energy generation projects will produce over 5,000MW, which is sufficient to help overcome demand supply gap in the country.
Answering a question raised by the Chairman PAC Khurshid Shah regarding the current power production and next year production, the secretary said that at present national power generation stands at 20,000MW which by the end of current year will touch 26,000MW and by 2018 national power production will reach 30,000MW.
The secretary Ministry of Water and Power said that despite several renewable energy projects, the bulk of new energy generation capacity under CPEC will be coal-based plants, with $5.8 billion worth of coal power projects expected to be completed by early 2019 as part of the CPEC''s "early harvest" projects.
Dagha said that under CPEC a number of coal-based power projects in the country are under completion which include Sahiwal coal fired project, Port Qasim power plant and Thar Coal projects. The $2.08 billion Pakistan Port Qasim Power Project, which will generate1,320MW electricity, near Port Qasim will be a joint venture of Al-Mirqab Capital from Qatar, and China''s Power Construction Corporation - a subsidiary of Sinohydro Resources Limited, he maintained.
Responding to a question Yousuf Naseem Khokhar, Secretary Ministry of Planning and Development, said that energy projects under CPEC are not being constructed by taking loans from China but these projects are being completed by Chinese investors in Independent Power Plants (IPPs) mode. He said that the government will only ensure power purchase from the investors and rest is their responsibility.
Khokar informed the committee that the Chinese companies are also investing and providing soft loans for the up-gradation of railway tracks from Peshawar to Karachi and the matter is being discussed between Chinese and Pakistani officials. According to him, up-gradation of track ML-I from Peshawar to Karachi would cost $8.2 billion. The secretary water and power said that the Shanghai Electric of China will construct two 660MW power plants as part of the "Thar-I" project in the Thar coalfield of Sindh province. The facility will be powered by locally sourced coal, and is expected to be put into commercial use in 2018.
The committee was told that near the Thar-I project, the China Machinery Engineering Corporation in collaboration with Pakistan''s Engro Corporation will construct two 330MW power plants (having initially proposed the simultaneous construction of two 660MW power plants) as well as developing a coal mine capable of producing up to 3.8 million tons of coal per year as part of the first phase of the "Thar-II Project." The participants were further informed that the first phase is expected to be complete by early 2019, at a cost of $1.95 billion.
Talking about the transmission lines Younas Dagha said that as part of infrastructure required for electricity distribution from Thar power plants, the $2.1 billion Transmission Line from Matiari to Lahore, and $1.5 billion transmission line from Matiari to Faisalabad are also to be constructed as part of the CPEC project. He added that the Matiari to Lahore transmission line is to be built on an "urgent basis" by the China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company.
The committee was informed that Gwadar is not connected with national gird and power was being imported from Iran for the costal region of Balochistan but now the government has finalised a plan to connect Gwadar with national grid as in future it will become a commercial hub for local and international business activities after the completion of CPEC. Dhaga said that a 300MW coal-based power plant is finalised for Gwadar which will be ready by the mid of 2018 by a Chinese firm. On a query of PAC member Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Dagha said that major parts of Balochistan would get relief in term of load shedding by end of this year.