China’s state owned Three Gorges Corporation plans to invest USD 10 billion by 2018 in Pakistan’s energy sector and a delegation is scheduled to visit Pakistan on February 7th 2012.
The officials said that the Hong Kong based United Energy Group Limited of China also intends to establish 2,000 MW power project in Sindh as their delegation is also visiting Pakistan next month to hold further talks on setting up the power projects.
Sindh Coal and Energy Department has signed MoU with the two companies which have shown interest in developing coal fired power plants in Thar and Badin coal fields as well.
In an attempt to resolve the issue, the government is pinning hopes on Thar Underground Coal Gasification pilot project which contains the country’s largest coal deposits of around 850 trillion cubic feet spanning over 3,800 square miles.
Overall, according to the World Energy Council, Pakistan has slightly more than 2,000 million tonnes of proven recoverable coal reserves. Pakistan’s current electricity demand is around 25,000 MW per day but the current electrical production is less than 20,000 MW per day leaving a deficit of slightly more than 5,000 MW and by 2015, domestic demand is projected to rise to 30,000 MW per day.
The officials said that currently, the country depends on oil and natural gas to generate up to 60% of its electricity needs, further impacting the country’s balance of payments as the price of oil rises and the ongoing power shortages are beginning to impact the country’s bottom line exports.
Dr Samar Mubarakmand member of the Science and Technology Planning Commission said that Thar coal project would be beneficial for common people and free from all defects. The success of the Thar coal project would lead to investment from leading international companies.
Dr Mubarakmand said that with the completion of coal fired power generation project, the nation would get cheap and sufficient power supply, which would resolve the current energy crisis.
He said that the country had enough coal reserves through which it could daily produce 50-60 million cubic feet gasifier which would end gas shortage from the country. It is for the first time that the coal gasification is being launched on commercial basis which will help in abundant and cheap electricity.
(Sourced from the News)
