What's new

Energy Projects...Updates

.,.,

Pakistan plans to quadruple domestic coal-fired power, move away from gas

Reuters
February 14, 2023

Pakistan plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters on Monday, as it seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis.

A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into hours of darkness last year. A surge in global prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an onerous economic crisis had made LNG unaffordable for Pakistan.

“LNG is no longer part of the long-term plan,” Dastgir told Reuters, adding that the country plans to increase domestic coal-fired power capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW) in the medium-term, from 2.31 GW currently.

The plan to switch to coal to provide citizens reliable electricity underscores challenges in drafting effective decarbonisation strategies, at a time when some developing countries are struggling to keep lights on.

Despite power demand increasing in 2022, Pakistan’s annual LNG imports fell to the lowest levels in five years as European buyers elbowed out price-sensitive consumers.

“We have some of the world’s most efficient regasified LNG-based power plants. But we don’t have the gas to run them,” Dastgir said in an interview.

Battling a wrenching economic crisis and in dire need of funds, Pakistan is seeking to reduce the value of its fuel imports and protect itself from geopolitical shocks, he said.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank have fallen to $2.9 billion, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports.

“It’s this question of not just being able to generate energy cheaply, but also with domestic sources, that is very important,” Dastgir said.

The Shanghai Electric Thar plant, a 1.32 GW capacity plant that runs on domestic coal and is funded under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), started producing power last week. The CPEC is a part of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition to the coal-fired plants, Pakistan also plans to boost its solar, hydro and nuclear power fleet, Dastgir said, without elaborating.

If the proposed plants are constructed, it could also widen the gap between Pakistan’s power demand and installed power generation capacity, potentially forcing the country to idle plants.

The maximum power demand met by Pakistan during the year ended June 2022 was 28.25 GW, more than 35 per cent lower than power generation capacity of 43.77 GW.

It was not immediately clear how Pakistan will finance the proposed coal fleet, but Dastgir said setting up new plants will depend on “investor interest”, which he expects to increase when newly commissioned coal-fired plants are proved viable.

Financial institutions in China and Japan, which are among the biggest financiers of coal units in developing countries, have been backing out of funding fossil-fuel projects in recent years amid pressure from activists and Western governments.

Sounds good. There is also the possibility to make natural gas with the co2 output of the coal plants and hydrogen to provide natural gas for the domestic needs, e.g. fertilizer ect.. This is a point i also like to see in Germany but politics here are to ideological dumb.
 
,.,.
Power china HDEC has completed 1090MW of wind power installed capacity, built 22 sets 132 KV substation, generating over 2 billion kWh of green energy to Pakistan's power grid annually, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2 million tons to address climate change..
 
,.,.
Power china HDEC has completed 1090MW of wind power installed capacity, built 22 sets 132 KV substation, generating over 2 billion kWh of green energy to Pakistan's power grid annually, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2 million tons to address climate change..

2000000000 kwh : 1000 = 2000000 MWh
2000000 MWh : 1000 = 2000 GWh = 2 TWh

1090 MW x 24h x 365 = 9,5484 TWh

So around 20% efficiency, what is better than in most places in Germany where wind power is installed.
 
Thar Coal Power Plant, Sindh ...

thal-no-750x475.jpg
,
 
.,.,.

Dam fund at Rs16.35bn, work ‘hit by floods’

Nasir Iqbal
January 13, 2023

The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that various factors, including recent floods and Covid-19, delayed the construction of the Mohmand and Diamer-Bhasha dams for at least nine months to a year.

In addition to the natural disasters, development funds have also not been released by the government to help ameliorate the equity injections on part of Wapda for the construction of the dams.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, a five-judge bench was told that the dam fund created in 2018 by then chief justice Saqib Nisar has increased to Rs16.35 billion — this value will increase to Rs16.98 billion in a few months when the funds deposited in the State of Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) investment schemes get matured.

A representative of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) — a financial agent for the utilisation of the funds — also assured the apex court from Karachi that not a single penny had ever been taken out of the amount deposited against the government securities or used to meet any expense from this head.

Subsequently, the CJP asked Auditor General of Pakistan Muhammad Ajmal Gondal to coordinate with SBP to oversee the management of the funds. He also observed that the funds would not be used for repairing the flood damage but only for the purchase of machinery necessary for dams.

The CJP reminded the auditor general that one of his representatives had told parliament that he did not have any access to information about the funds. “Now since the access is available, please do (audit) it quickly,” CJP observed.

The direction came against the backdrop of media reports that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) intended to write a letter to the Supreme Court seeking information about the dam fund.

The Supreme Court also directed its IT department to place all the information on its website regarding the dam fund for transparency.
Dams isn't govt priority at this time so it is obvious
 
,.,.,.
Major milestone crossed at Dasu Hydropower Project
River Indus stands diverted

February 19, 2023:
The under-construction Dasu Hydropower Project crossed a major milestone the other day, as the mighty River Indus was successfully diverted following completion of one of the two diversion tunnels. Instead of its natural course, River Indus is now flowing through a 1.33-Kilometer (Km) long diversion tunnel with 20-meter (m) width and 23-m height. Consequently, construction activities have been initiated on the starter dam, leading towards construction of the main dam of Dasu Hydropower Project.

General Manager and Project Director Dasu Hydropower Project, representatives of the Contractors and the Consultants along with a number of engineers and workers witnessed the historic moment of River Indus diversion. Meanwhile, Chairman WAPDA Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) congratulated the project management on achieving this landmark on the project.

Diversion system of Dasu Hydropower Project is comprised of two tunnels - tunnel A and tunnel B. Of these, tunnel B is complete, which has the discharge capacity, sufficient to divert water of River Indus during the current lean-flows season. The 1.5-Km long tunnel A, with 20-m width and 23-m height, will also be ready by mid April this year to cater for the increased water flows during the high-flows season.

Dasu Hydropower Project is a vital component of the least-cost, green and clean energy generation plan of WAPDA. The project is being constructed across River Indus, upstream of Dasu town in Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The 4320 MW-Dasu Hydropower Project is planned to be completed in two stages.
At present, WAPDA is constructing its stage-I with installed generation capacity of 2160 MW and annual energy generation of 12 billion units. Stage-I of the project is likely to start electricity generation in 2026. The 2160 MW stage-II, when implemented, will also provide 9 billion units to the National Grid. On completion of the both stages, Dasu will become the project with highest annual energy generation in Pakistan i.e., 21 billion units per annum on the average.
Courtesy: WAPDA
 
.,.,.,
1530 MW - Under Construction Tarbela Dam Project 5th Extension.
Completion Date: 2025
The construction of the Tarbela 5th Extension Project on T5 will cost $807 million, for which $390 million has been funded by the World Bank, and $300 million will be provided by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

332277887_571907834901635_298689431641530745_n.jpg




330576841_946773419663315_377245455652787072_n.jpg
 
,.,.
Pakistan and China together completed three projects to generate 1980 megawatts of cheap electricity since Apirl 2022, Thar Coal-based electricity to national grid...

Thal Nova : 330 MW
Tail : 330 megawatts
Shanghai : 1320 MW
 
,.,.,.
Although fuel prices have more than doubled over the last year, CPEC projects power projects still provide competitive rates.

a-1024x687.jpeg




Higher Efficiency on Power Generation
Pakistan’s energy sector is mainly dependent on imported fuel (oil and LNG), which has caused a heavy burden on foreign reserves and confined industrial development of the country.

“As the CPEC energy projects replaced the costlier energy production from furnace oil and diesel to coal and renewable energy resources in the last five years, the energy needs of Pakistan has been fufilled at lower prices, driving growth in the export-oriented industries”, the Chairman revealed.

Regarding the power generation cost, in October 2021, CPEC projects based on imported coal produced electricity at Rs.8.0/kWh. While the cost of domestic projects based on FO and RLNG were Rs.21.5/kWh and Rs.20.0/kWh respectively, twice more expensive than CPEC projects, data provided by KASB Trade shows.

The cost has been rising over the last year due to surged fuel prices in the international market. Nevertheless, the CPEC projects still provide competitive rates. In October this year, power generation cost of CPEC projects based on imported coal was Rs.18.5/kWh, and that of domestic projects based on FO and RLNG was Rs.34.0/kWh, Rs.31.0/kWh.

When it comes to electricity rate, the chairman told CEN, CPEC projects (EPP) based on coal is Rs.22.13/kWh on average, and that of non-CPEC projects based on oil is Rs.36.61/kWh. This shows the CPEC energy projects, utilizing fuel with higher efficiency, are providing affordable electricity to millions of Pakistani households.

Utilization of Thar Coal
Rising fuel prices and a new energy landscape after the Ukrain war necessitates Pakistan to avail of its indigenous resources, and at the time being, the most efficient solution is Thar coal.

Data provided by NEPRA shows that proven coal reserves in Thar are approximately 175 billion tons. After the commissioning of phase II of Block II, the daily coal production is approximately 24,000 tons, sufficient to fire 1320 MWs. Based on current coal prices of South African Coal, the fuel saving is approximately Rs. 13.46/kWh and the annual fuel savings for 1320 MW will be approximately Rs. 121 billion from Thar coal.

CPEC projects have enabled Pakistan to utilize the Thar coal and produce electricity at around Rs.7-7.5/kWh, the report says. Currently, the 660 MW Engro Power Thar Limited, Lucky Electric, Engro Powergen Thar and Thar Energy are completely or partialy running on Thar coal.

On top of that, another 1,320 MW Shanghai Electric coal power plant, together with an open-pit coal mine of 7.8m tons capacity in Thar Coal Block-1, has been completed recently and is in the process of synchronizing with the national grid. Once put into commercial operation, it will help double electricity generation based on Thar coal to 2640 MW and lower average electricity costs in Pakistan.

Transit to Renewable energies
In December 2020, Pakistan announced that it would not build any new power projects that depend on imported coal, and pledged that by 2030, 60pc of its energy will come from clean and renewable sources. This coincided with China’s commitment of building a green CPEC, which entails not building new coal-fired power plants overseas, and increasing support for low-carbon energy.

In this connection, four hydro power projects have been completed or in development under the CPEC Framework, including the biggest run of the river hydro power project 720 MW Karot HPP commissioned on 29th June 2022, 840 MW Suki Kinari HPP under construction, and a 640 MW project recently approved in Mahl.

According to the State of Industry Report 2022 issued by NEPRA, the HPPs have a comparatively long operational life which can be used as an advantage for reducing their tariff through a large spread of the cost over the life of the project.

Besides, CPEC projects have invigorated the once barren land in Jhimpir and transformed the region into a ‘wind corridor’ in real. Four wind farms built here with a total installed capacity of 300 MW have supplied economical and clean energy to national grid of Pakistan.

In Bahawalpur located the first ever solar power plant in Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park. The plant was initially launched with a capacity of generating 100 MW of power. Since 2015, there have been addition of 300 MW power generation capacity, and there are numerous planned projects reported for the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park by AEDB with cumulative capacity of 1,050 MW.

The State of Industry Report 2022 by NEPRA shows the price of electricity from wind and solar power plants are less than half of the price of electricity currently being procured from thermal sources.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom