FORGETTING THAR? is the new govt ignoring Thar coal?

[Bilal.]

Thar coal is of lignite variety containing high ash and moisture content. To top it, it is located in a far off area.

Transporting coal by 10 miles double it's cost. This is usually overcome by setting up coal fired plant near pitheads but in your case, coal reserves are located in arid areas.This lead to an additional problem of lack of coolant water supplies making set-up of thermal plant unfeasible.

Probably it has nothing to do with politics.

The major thing stopping exploitation of thar coal is absence of HT transmission lines to connect prospective power plants with the national grid. The rest of technical and financial challenges have been studied in bankable feasibility studies( read above) and found not to be a problem at all. Hard data says it's viable.

So what is the delay is securing the financing? Because the "feasibility" may not be there?

Same that is with any multi billion dollar project, it takes time, plus the government needs to lay HT transmission line to connect prospective plants to national grid. It requires massive scale development and would require at the very least 10 years to realise.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

The major thing stopping exploitation of thar coal is absence of HT transmission lines to connect prospective power plants with the national grid. The rest of technical and financial challenges have been studied in bankable feasibility studies( read above) and found not to be a problem at all. Hard data says it's viable.



Same that is with any multi billion dollar project, it takes time, plus the government needs to lay HT transmission line to connect prospective plants to national grid. It requires massive scale development and would require at the very least 10 years to realise.

In other words, Thar coal will lie buried for the foreseeable future. So we sort of agree.

 

[Bilal.]

In other words, Thar coal will lie buried for the foreseeable future. So we sort of agree.

10 years is nothing in the scale of such large developments, if we start building bhasha dam today it will take 10 years to complete, does that mean it's not a viable project as you are terming thar to be? Plus, you have been going around calling it economically not viable citing quality and cost concerns which as proven by bankable feasibilities is not true.

 

[Bilal.]

One more thing, these studies have not been conducted just by Pakistani entities but also German, Chinese and others. All of them concluded that it's economically and technically viable

So all that mumbo jumbo that it's technically or economically not viable are just baseless hypothesis and personally opinions that hold no weight in front of scientific hard data.

 

[ziaulislam]

well if the govt is series than lying down a 300 km transmission line, 100 km railway line from islamkot and expanding water canal would take at best 4 years after feasiblity reports.which have all been completed..
but govt is reluctant to pur in so much money..
in thar govt has to invest first for infrastruture which wouldnt..its just like dams..no govt has the stomach to spend money there when it ca spend money on othermore politcally imp places

 

[Bilal.]

well if the govt is series than lying down a 300 km transmission line, 100 km railway line from islamkot and expanding water canal would take at best 4 years after feasiblity reports.which have all been completed..
but govt is reluctant to pur in so much money..
in thar govt has to invest first for infrastruture which wouldnt..its just like dams..no govt has the stomach to spend money there when it ca spend money on othermore politcally imp places

It's the halka politics, they'd rather pour billions down the drain for some stupid projects to please their constituency voters.

 

[Donatello]

No body has forgotten Thar. Progress is ongoing, with long negotiations between the government and the private investors as the main reason. It takes years for projects of these scales to materialize. A simple engineering feasibility survey would take at least a year or two.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

10 years is nothing in the scale of such large developments, if we start building bhasha dam today it will take 10 years to complete, does that mean it's not a viable project as you are terming thar to be? Plus, you have been going around calling it economically not viable citing quality and cost concerns which as proven by bankable feasibilities is not true.

When were Thar coal deposits discovered? 1991. What year is this? 2013. What have we done for 22 years? Nothing. Actually, no, wait. We tried Thar Coal Gasification. Failed. We tried to convert our thermal plants to Thar Coal. Failed.

Now we have a "bankable feasibility study" showing that we can exploit these deposits "in 10 years". Guess what will happen? The unmistakable stench of Eau de Failure is in the air this time too. My concerns about poor quality and financial non-viability are correct.

 

[ziaulislam]

When were Thar coal deposits discovered? 1991. What year is this? 2013. What have we done for 22 years? Nothing. Actually, no, wait. We tried Thar Coal Gasification. Failed. We tried to convert our thermal plants to Thar Coal. Failed.

Now we have a "bankable feasibility study" showing that we can exploit these deposits "in 10 years". Guess what will happen? The unmistakable stench of Eau de Failure is in the air this time too. My concerns about poor quality and financial non-viability are correct.

well at the moment four foreign commpanies are working but the risk is that there work might stop if govt doesnt complete the infrastruture required..
so far fedral govt has placed no money howver good news is that sindh govt has place 13 billion dollars for infrastrutre..
so yes thar will devlop but very slowly due to complete lack of interst from fedral govt ..unlesss fedral govt is ready to pour in 4-5 billlion dollars thar will not develop

PS
sorry for spelling using a andriod phone

 

[Argus Panoptes]

well at the moment four foreign commpanies are working but the risk is that there work might stop if govt doesnt complete the infrastruture required..
so far fedral govt has placed no money howver good news is that sindh govt has place 13 billion dollars for infrastrutre..
so yes thar will devlop but very slowly due to complete lack of interst from fedral govt ..unlesss fedral govt is ready to pour in 4-5 billlion dollars thar will not develop

PS
sorry for spelling using a andriod phone

Neither the Sind or the Federal Governments have even one billion dollars to spare for developing Thar, let alone many billions. We simply do not have any money to spare. None.

 

[Bilal.]

When were Thar coal deposits discovered? 1991. What year is this? 2013. What have we done for 22 years? Nothing. Actually, no, wait. We tried Thar Coal Gasification. Failed. We tried to convert our thermal plants to Thar Coal. Failed.

Now we have a "bankable feasibility study" showing that we can exploit these deposits "in 10 years". Guess what will happen? The unmistakable stench of Eau de Failure is in the air this time too. My concerns about poor quality and financial non-viability are correct.

Let me break it down for you:

- studies done in accordance to international standards

- done by international companies for their own projects

- 10 years is my opinion you made it as if it's part of the study

- studies done by reputable organisations from Germany, China and successful local companies like engro hold more weight then your and my opinion

 

[Argus Panoptes]

Let me break it down for you:

- studies done in accordance to international standards

- done by international companies for their own projects

- 10 years is my opinion you made it as if it's part of the study

- studies done by reputable organisations from Germany, China and successful local companies like engro hold more weight then your and my opinion

Thank you for that breakdown. Now please allow me to tell you the bottom line:

Thar Coal will remain buried and not utilized for the foreseeable future because of its low quality and financial infeasibility.

 

[Bilal.]

Sir, you are being illogical, the feasibility study says it's of sufficient quality and financially viable otherwise it won't be bankable feasibility.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

Sir, you are being illogical, the feasibility says it's of sufficient quality and financially viable otherwise it won't be bankable feasibility.

IF that is true, when is the ground-breaking ceremony after signing a formal and financed contract?

 

[Bilal.]

IF that is true, when is the ground-breaking ceremony after signing a formal and financed contract?

As soon as the HT lines are laid, i.e, red tape is broken to lay it.