ISLAMABAD            -           Pakistan has signed implementation agreement (IA) with Chinese company for 1320MW Thar coal-based power generation CPEC umbrella project.

Managing Director PPIB, Shah Jahan Mirza  signed the documents on behalf of the Government of Pakistan (GoP) while Meng Donghai, Chief Executive Officer of M/s Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company Limited (TCB-I), represented the Chinese company at the signing ceremony. The power purchase agreement (PPA) of the project has already been executed.

The implementation agreement (IA) of Pakistan’s largest Thar coal-based power generation project of 1,320 MW power generation capacity has been signed at Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) for materializing the financing of 1,912.2 million US$ as the cumulative project cost. The project is based on Super Critical Technology.

The 1,320 MW Shanghai Electric Thar Block-1 Coal Project is being developed under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Project Company i.e. TCB-I while M/s Shanghai Electric Group Company is the main sponsor of this project. The project will utilize Thar Coal supplied by Sino Sindh Resources Limited which is executing coal mining operations for coal extraction in the Thar coalfield Block-I.

Letter of Support has already been issued to the project by PPIB while financial closing is expected to be achieved very soon.

It is anticipated that Shanghai Electric Thar Block-1 Coal Project will start generating electricity in March 2021. Latest advancements by this project will pave the way for timely commissioning of the Project. The project will be connected with the 660 +kV Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Line Project for power transmission. This transmission line project is also being implemented by PPIB under CPEC which is currently under construction and targeted to be operational by March 2021.

Being fully compliant with the World Bank/IFC standards, the addition of 1,320 MW of indigenous, affordable and reliable electricity will not only energise the national grid, it will also result in savings of foreign exchange of around Rs 75 billion annually on account of fuel cost, generate economic activities and employment opportunities for the people of Thar in particular and will also entail improvement of the basic infrastructure in the vicinity of these projects. Further, this will boost the confidence of the investors who are interested in thar coal mining and power generation.

Speaking at the occasion, Managing Director PPIB Shah Jahan Mirza said that PPIB is acting as the lead organization of the GoP in developing indigenous resources like Thar coal and hydro for power generation and has so far achieved considerable success which include commissioning of Pakistan’s first Thar coal based 660 MW Engro Powergen and two hydro IPPs namely 84 MW New Bong and 147 MW Patrind. PPIB has been quite successful in implementing another six thar coal based power projects of 4,290 MW which are at different stages of development, he added.