Energy Projects...Updates

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Thar coal project set to start running ahead of schedule

ISLAMABAD / KARACHI: Pakistan’s first Thar coal-based power plant has been 90% completed almost five months ahead of schedule.

The 660-megawatt Lignite Coal Power Plant is expected to start functioning and supply power to the national grid by December 2018.

Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL) and Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) are making the largest private investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – the only investment which is 95% made by the Pakistanis.
EPTL connected the power plant with the national grid to receive back-feed power supply for the plant on August 1, 2018. “The next part will be achieved by December 2018, when first electron from Thar coal will be added to the national grid. The COD (commercial operation date) is expected to be achieved by May/June 2019,” said Engro Energy Limited Director Mining and Operation Syed Murtaza Azhar Rizvi

 

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First vessel of coal of Hub power plant arrived at Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT). It sailed from South Africa’s Richard Port in early September 2018. After nearly half month’s sailing, it successfully berthed at PIBT port.

 

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The Ghazi Barotha hydropower 1,450MW project,
Ghazi Barotha Canal during construction (1999-2002).

 

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Thar coal-based power plant

Updates 7/10/2018.

 

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Port Qasim power plant:

 

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ISLAMABAD - The first unit of Thar coal power plant is likely to contribute 330 MW of electricity to the national grid by December 2018, six months ahead of given schedule as so far 92 percent work on coal mining while 93 percent work of power plant has been completed.

Work on coal mining in Thar block II, and power plant near the site of coal mining started in 2016 and was earlier scheduled to be completed by June 2019, but due fast pace of the work, the project is being completed well ahead of given time.

“The 270-kilometre long transmission line from Thar block II to Matiari has already been completed at a cost of $270 million, while work on both coal mining as well as power plant is in progress simultaneously and is in final stage,” Chief Operating Officer of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) Abul Fazl Rizvi told APP.

Rizvi said the mining work had achieved depth of 154 metres at Thar block II where coal had emerged on the surface.

With respect to quality of the coal, he said it was of very good quality as was expected and as we would go deeper the quality would get better. In the first phase of Thar Coal project , 3.8 million ton of coal would be extracted from which two power plants of 330 MW each would be operated while the power capacity from Thar block II would be gradually increased and by 2024, Thar coal block II would be producing around 5200 MW electricity.

Rizvi said the second unit of the Thar coal fired power plant would also start functioning by March 2019. He informed that in January 2019, work on two more power plants would be started in Thar block II with total installed capacity of 660 MW.

He said initially the cost per unit of electricity produced from these power plants would be Rs 10.8 cents while its cost would be reduced gradually and by 2030 the per unit cost would be around Rs 4.6 cents.

Tharparkar is spread over an area of 19,000 square kilometer where around 9000 square kilometer coal was present whereas the area on which government had allowed to extract coal is an area of 1300 square kilometer and this area has been divided into 13 blocks with 100 square kilometer area of each block.

 

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Hubco to acquire over one-third stake in ThalNova Power


Power plant is being set up at a cost of $498.3m; expected to start production by June 2021. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Hub Power Company (Hubco), the oldest independent power producer in Pakistan, has expressed its intention to acquire over one-third of stake in half-a-billion-dollar ThalNova Power Thar project.

“Hubco intends to commence due diligence of ThalNova Power (Private) Limited to acquire not less than 37% of the total ThalNova shareholding,” Hubco Company Secretary Shaharyar Nashat said in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday.

The transaction is subject to corporate and regulatory approvals. Hubco’s share price increased 2.87% or Rs2.31 and stood at Rs82.67 with trading in 945,500 shares at the PSX. The share price of Thal Limited, which is one of the shareholders in the ThalNova power project, hit the upper price limit of 5% and surged Rs18.40 to Rs368.59 with 33,900 shares changing hands.

“Subject to completion of this transaction, Thal Power (Private) Limited shall possess 26% shareholding in ThalNova,” Thal Limited Company Secretary Umair Riaz Siddiqi said in a separate notification to the PSX.

“Thal Limited, through its wholly owned subsidiary Thal Power (Private) Limited, intends to dilute its shareholding in ThalNova Power Thar (Private) Limited in favour of Hubco subject to completion of due diligence,” he added.

Besides, Novatex Limited’s shareholding in the ThalNova joint venture would also be restricted to 26% after the stake purchase by Hubco, a source said. China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC), which is involved in engineering, procurement and construction of the project, and Descon Engineering Limited would continue to hold 10% and 1% stakes respectively in the joint venture.

ThalNova Power Thar Private Limited is a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) power project based on Thar lignite coal and is located at the power park site in Tharparkar district, Sindh.

The plant is being set up at a cost of $498.3 million, which includes 25% equity and 75% debt. It is expected to start commercial production by June 2021. The joint-venture partners are determined to arrange financing by first quarter of the next calendar year. “The joint venture has set the deadline of March 2019 for financial close of the project,” the source added.

As per the generation licence granted by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, ThalNova will supply electricity to the national grid for a period of 30 years.

The company would sell power at Rs3.67 per kilowatt-hour in the first 10 years of its operations. The tariff would come down to Rs1.91 per kilowatt-hour for the next 20 years.

The tariff comprises 38% return on investment and 48% debt servicing cost.

The project debt would be paid off completely in the first 10 years of operations.

 

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Thar coal..

 

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Chinese leadership committed to further invest in Pakistan's energy sector

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has great potential to grow and its energy market will witness major expansion in the coming years.

China would continue to complement Pakistan’s efforts in reforming and expanding its energy sector”, this was underscored by Lian Weiliang, Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in a meeting with Federal Minister for Energy, Omar Ayub Khan, Friday.

During the meeting Lian, a Minister-level official of The People’s Republic of China, recognizing the imperatives of further reinforcing ties between two iron brothers, maintained that both countries could regularly review the progress of various energy projects and jointly formulate strategies and plans to oversee their speedy and timely execution.

He particularly stressed that Chinese leadership at the highest level remained committed to further invest in Pakistan’s energy sector for its consolidation and self-sufficiency.

Minister Ayub thanked Lian for inviting Pakistan’s delegation to attend the Belt and Road Energy Ministerial Conference, held in Suzhou, and hoped that the Conference under China’s visionary leadership would play a critical role in rebuilding and diversifying regional energy landscape.

The Federal Minister for Energy also took the opportunity to brief his interlocutor about the energy priorities of the PTI government. He underlined that, just ,the up-gradation of Pakistan’s distribution system required an investment worth over $50 billion, while the up gradation of transmission system would require an even larger size of investment.

He added that Pakistan’s GDP is more than three hundred billion dollars and demand for more electricity consumption was rapidly growing opening up more opportunities for foreign direct investment in the country.

Minister Ayub also extended Lian Weiliang the invitation to visit Pakistan.

Lian thanked the Minister for extending the invitation and hoped that under his leadership Pakistan-China energy ties would further deepen and solidify.

 

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83.5 MW KurramTangiDam under construction in North Waziristan, KP
Under sluices gates portion of Kaitu Weir KTDP, Stage - I....

 

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View of 969 MW Neelum Jhelum Hydroelectric Project recently completed in AJK..

 

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Kurram Tangi Dam | 83 MW .......... KP.
Updates 27/10/2018.

Kaitu Weir KTDP Stage-I.

 

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102 MW Gulpur Hydropower Plant (GHPP) is an under construction, run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation project located on Poonch River a major tributary of Jhelum River near Gulpur in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir Pakistan.

 

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NEPRA grants license for 11.80MW hydel power plant in KP.

The proposed project is being set up on Khan Khwar river (one of the right tributaries of the Indus River) at Karora village near Besham, district Shangla, in the province of KPK and will have an installed capacity of 11.80MW.

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has granted the power generation licence to Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) for its 11.80MW Karora Hydel Power Plant located on Khan Khwar river at Karora village near Besham, District Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The proposed project is being set up on Khan Khwar river (one of the right tributaries of the Indus River) at Karora village near Besham, district Shangla, in the province of KPK and will have an installed capacity of 11.80MW consisting of two horizontal-axis Francis turbines (5.90MW each).

The said generation facility will have a very high head of up to 152 meters with a maximum design discharge of 9.75 m3/s. The project will result in a mean annual energy of 71.39 GWh at plant factor of 69.06 per cent. The total cost of the project will be around Rs 3263.278 million with a debt to equity ratio of 75 per cent and 25 per cent of the project cost.

 

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Defunct Lakhra power plant to be rehabilitated with private investment

The Lakhra Coal Development Company was established through a joint venture of Pakistan Mineral Development Company, Government of Sindh and Wapda. Its main objective was to supply coal to the Lakhra power station.

The indigenous coal-powered Lakhra Power Plant, which has remained out of operation since July 20, 2017’s fire incident, will be rehabilitated under a public-private partnership model.

Senate Sub-Committee on Power Convener Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak floated this proposal and received an affirmative response from the stakeholders at a meeting at Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited (LPGCL) in Jamshoro district on Friday.

“If we ask the [federal] government to provide some billions [of rupees] for this project, which is though a very important project, we will have to delay the overhaul and wait at least until the next budget,” he said while talking to the media after the meeting.
He pointed out slashing of Rs 150 billion from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) in the supplementary finance bill to contend that the government is unlikely to earmark funds for the plant.


The senator emphasised that a private company, preferably based in Pakistan, should be allowed to invest in the holistic overhaul of this 150 megawatts plant and given its operational control under a profit sharing formula for up to 10 years. According to him, this investment model is different from privatisation and even the build, operate and transfer (BOT) model.

“We call it balancing, modernisation, operate and transfer – (BMOT) model. After completion of the contract period, the plant will be returned to the government.” He said 186 state-owned enterprises are causing a financial loss of Rs1,300 billion every year, adding that the model’s success at Lakhra will be replicated in other state-owned enterprises as well.

“The government will give, for example, around Rs1 per unit profit to the partnering company,” he explained. Khattak estimated that the generation cost at Lakhra should ideally be priced around Rs6 per unit.

According to LPGCL’s estimate, a sum of $ 33.51 million or around Rs 4.9 billion will be required for the rehabilitation of the plant, which has incurred losses of about Rs 12 billion since its commissioning in 1996. The companies interested in taking up the operational control of the plant are yet to come up with their estimates.

Khattak, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, expressed the hope that the committee is likely to complete the process of selecting a private partner under the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in a month. The rehabilitation will take another six to seven months before the plant starts contributing electricity to the national grid, he added.

“The good news is that the plant can be completely revived,” he said, adding that the plant will provide employment to 1,000 to 1,200 people at the plant and between 7,000 and 8,000 people at the Lakhra coal mines. Currently, 351 staff works at the redundant plant while at the peak of its operation when all the three 50 MW units worked the staff’s strength was 1,170.

According to him, Chinese, German and Japanese companies have also shown interest in the plant but he reiterated that a local company will be preferred. The representatives of two local companies also attended the meeting and briefly discussed their proposals.

“The company with which we sign the agreement for the overhaul and operation will be given preference in expansion of the plant’s existing power generation capacity,” the senator said, adding that installation of the additional units of 330 MW to 660 MW is under consideration.

Long before a fire engulfed the plant, lack of routine maintenance, inspection and overhaul for almost the last two decades contributed to its rapid decay resulting in reduction in the generation capacity. In July, 2017, the 150 MW plant was only producing up to 35 MW. The employees hold Genco Holding Company Limited and its predecessor, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), responsible for ignoring the plant.

In 2006, former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s regime handed over LPGCL to the Associated Power Generation Company on a 20-year lease. The employees fought a legal battle for seven years and eventually secured the Supreme Court’s order against the lease in 2013.

The senator noted that the Wapda officials who gave wrong samples of Lakhra’s coal to China’s Dongfang Electric Corporation, which built the plant, are also responsible for the problems. “The Chinese who designed the plant were given good quality coal samples. After construction, the plant was operated with average quality coal which damaged its components,” he observed.

WAPDA Electric Hydro Workers Union Central President Abdul Latif Nizamani informed the meeting that 10 workers of the plant contracted cancer due to exposure to poor quality coal.

At the meeting, Lakhra Coal Development Company (LCDC) and its contractor agreed with the committee that they will install a coal washing system. They also agreed to reduce the parameters of ash to 20% or less, sulfur to between 5% and 7% and moisture to 30% or less. The plant will require 3,000 tonnes of coal per day. The senate committee emphasised that the coal suppliers should reduce the price to Rs3,000 to Rs3,200 per ton to help make the cost of power generation feasible. Until 2017, LPGCL was purchasing the same coal at Rs4,062.