Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has inaugurated 330 MW Thar Energy Limited power plant under CPEC Block II completed by Hubco company in district Tharparkar on Monday.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Thar Coal Mines Phase-II at Thar Coal Block-II, he said that Rs 10 per unit electricity would be produced from the project. It is heartening to note that the coal plants set up under the project will not release pollutants into the air, he said, and added that he was pleased that the local people were getting jobs as several other industrial units had become operational in the area.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that there are 175 million tons of coal reserves in Thar, which can be used to make gas. By next year, there will be an extraordinary increase in the countrys economy from the coal of Thar. The power generation capacity of the power project will increase to 2640 MW.
Thar Energy Limited (TEL), a joint venture between Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC), Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO), and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) successfully accomplished commissioning with the Commercial Operations Date (COD) taking effect from October 1, 2022.
The progress was shared by majority stakeholders HUBCO (60% stake) and FFC (30%) in separate notices to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
TEL is a joint venture between HUBCO, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC), and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), formed for the purposes of establishing a 330 MW Mine-Mouth Coal-Fired Power Generation Complex at Thar Block II, District Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” HUBCO said in its notice.
The project has successfully achieved commissioning, with the COD to take effect from October 1, 2022, in terms of the Power Purchase Agreement dated July 27, 2017, entered into between TEL and the Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited, the notice read.
The company stated that the latest development would boost the collective power generation capacity of HUBCO and its group companies to 3,251 MW by the plants spread over Punjab, Balochistan, Azad Jammu, Kashmir and Sindh.
The TEL project will be generating low-cost energy from indigenous Thar coal thus reducing the burden on national foreign exchange resources, the notice added.
Moreover, the development emerges as the incumbent government plans to increase its electricity generation capacity by utilizing indigenous sources to meet the country’s energy requirements.
Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir, earlier this month, stated as per his governments energy policy, every new electricity generation plant in Pakistan will be established using domestic sources i.e. solar, hydel, wind, and Thar coal.
The development is crucial as the country looks to lower the import of energy commodities that is burning a hole in the national kitty, especially due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has resulted in soaring gas and coal prices, leaving little space for net energy importing countries like Pakistan.