Islamabad - Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) on Tuesday approved Thar coal-based power generation project of 1400 MW (350 MW each) to be set up at Thar by Shanghai Electric Group Company of China. This is the second Thar coal-based IPP approved by the PPIB Board, first being 660 MW Engro Power Project. The development of Thar coal resource will provide a major breakthrough to develop huge generation capacity using cheap local coal. This project is one of the ‘Prioritised Projects’ included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and would start generation in 2017-18. The approval was granted in the 101st Board meeting of PPIB held here today with Federal Minister for Water & Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif in the chair. The Board also approved signing of MoU between PPIB, China Three Gorges Corporation and Silk Road Fund, China for development of private hydropower projects in Pakistan. Silk Road Fund is a development fund newly created by Government of China, with its main focus on infrastructure and energy development as well as industrial and road initiatives, whereas China Three Gorges is already developing three hydropower projects in Pakistan namely 720 MW Karot, 1100 MW Kohala and 590 MW Mahl on Jhelum River and interested in undertaking more power projects. The Silk Road Fund is willing to undertake such projects. To facilitate the power projects initiated by provinces/ AJ&K/ Gilgit-Baltistan, the Board also approved standardised Tri-Partite Letter of Support. The Board granted approval for issuance of LOS to 150 MW coal based power project at Arifwala, 1200 MW coal fired projects at Sahiwal, 1320 MW imported coal fired projects at Port Qasim and 1320 MW imported coal fired projects at Hub, Balochistan.
Ongoing private power projects were also discussed in the meeting in context to the overall electricity situation in the country. The Managing Director PPIB briefed the Board on coal and hydel based private power generation projects being handled by PPIB, particularly the projects being processed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The Minister advised PPIB to keep expediting the projects so that the timely completion is ensured. While talking on CPEC, the Minister termed the initiative as a game changer in the region which would result in promotion of economic and trade activities and marked CPEC an important step for elimination of load shedding and economic development of the country.
While presiding over the meeting, the Minister stressed the availability of affordable electricity, and said that the vision of the Prime Minister is not only the availability of electricity, but affordable electricity to meet the future requirements of growing economy and increasing population. The Minister directed the PPIB to facilitate the investors and ensure timely completion of the ongoing projects. He stated that the progress of the all projects both new and ongoing should be reviewed regularly so that they may not face any difficulty.