ISLAMABAD - The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) and M/s Hub Power Company Limited (Hubco) on Friday signed the Implementation Agreement (IA) and Supplemental Implementation Agreement (SIA) of 330MW Thar coal-based power project.

The agreement will help for materialising the financing of around $500 million as project cost. The documents have been executed by PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and Hubco Chief Financial Officer Fatima Maryam. The government officials, PPIB officials and representatives of Hubco and Project Company ie M/s Thar Energy Limited (TEL) witnessed the signing ceremony.

This project is being developed at Thar Block-II, and will utilise indigenous Thar Coal for power generation. Letter of Support has been issued to the project by PPIB and currently it is at advanced stages of achieving Financial Closure. In order to ensure timely completion of the project, the sponsors have started construction activities prior to achieving Financial Close. The development pace on the project is satisfactory, hence it is anticipated that the project is likely to start generation by end 2020.

This project is among the lot of 12 coal and hydro power projects of around 11,000MW being facilitated by the PPIB under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A new +660kV HVDC transmission line under CPEC is also being implemented by PPIB to evacuate electricity from new power generation units in the south and to transmit it to the load centres up north.

The PPIB managing director said that this latest development reaffirms the government’s commitment of making the country self reliant in power generation and free of loadshedding. He said the exploration of Thar Coal is opening a new chapter in the energy history of Pakistan and this dream has been realised through CPEC arrangement. CPEC is a real game changer in the field of energy because the prioritisation of energy projects as part of the CPEC investments has enhanced the confidence of stakeholders in Pakistan’s energy sufficiency. CPEC is covering the entire power sector value chain from fuel extraction (mining) to power generation and to end-user distribution. The development of these projects will be instrumental in generating economic activities as well as employment opportunities for the people of the area in particular and will also entail improvement of the basic infrastructure in the vicinity of these projects.