Thar coal: Energy Security?

ISLAMABAD

AsAd UllAh KAmrAn on february 17, 2023, the 330 megawatt lignite-fired power plant operated by hub Power company limited (hubco) began commercial operations. the china Pakistan economic corridor’s thalnova is a 330megawatt mine-mouth lignite-fired power station located at thar coal block ii Sindh (cPec). hubco, thal limited, novatex limited, china machinery engineering corporation (cmec), and descon engineering ltd are partners in the project. according to the press release from the company, the boiler, turbine, and generator used in the power plant were produced by general electric, of american origin. whereas, other systems in the power plant are based on european technology. as a result, reliability criteria are raised and emissions are regulated to levels even lower than those permitted by the Sindh environmental Protection agency (SePa). this is to counter the wider argument of air pollution incurred by burning coal for power. earlier this month, the Private Power and infrastructure board (PPib) declared that the country’s largest thar coalbased power facility has reached commercial operation date (cod). the Shanghai electric project, located at thar block-1 with a generation capacity of 1,320 mw, was implemented as part of the china-Pakistan economic corridor (cPec). thar coal block-1 Power generating co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of

Shanghai electric, developed the project. the project cost is estimated at around $ 2 billion and is estimated to generate 9 billion units of power per year, saving rs. 250 billion each year, that would have otherwise been used to import gas for power production.

Coal power on the grid… at the moment apart from the two new power plants that achieved cod this month, the country is running five operating coal power plants owned by; thar engro coal Power Project (thar, Sindh), lucky electric Power company limited (karachi, Sindh), Port Qasim electric Power company (karachi, Sindh), china Power hub generation company (hub, balochistan) and huaneng Shandong rui group (Sahiwal, Punjab). the combined capacity of these

Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) chairman imran khan on friday announced the launch of the ‘Jail bharo tehreek’ (courting arrests movement) from february 22, elaborating on the [movement] will drive the final nail in the “imported government’s coffin.”

“it’s a reaction…..reaction to protest the ongoing crackdown and highhandedness against Pti members. i am directing my party to gear up preparations for the launch of the movement on wednesday (feb 22),” the former prime minister said the movement would begin from lahore and then spread to all major cities, encouraging the nation to not be afraid and “break the idol of fear”. he said that Pti will start filling the jails in all major cities with every passing day. he asked the nation to get their rights from the rulers and not to get afraid of them. earlier this month, the Pti chief announced that his party leadership would soon start the ‘courting arrests’ movement in response to the government’s roughshod tactics to muz- zle opposition party leaders through “politically motivated” cases. vehemently protesting the targeting of his party leaders—who have been in the crosshairs of lawenforcement agencies over various charges—imran had asserted the Pti would not remain silent as the government unleashes atrocities on his party’s members. “it was their [coalition government’s] plan to weaken the Pti by terrorising our leaders and workers. we never committed such atrocities in our tenure,” he said on feb 4 in a video address. imran reiterated his claim that Pti leaders Shahbaz gill and azam Swati were tortured and stripped naked by the incumbent government. he expressed gratitude to his supporters who had assembled outside his lahore residence when rumors circulated of his supposed arrest. the Pti chairman also expressed concerns over what he termed the Pdm government’s tactics to delay elections in Punjab and khyberPakhtunkhwa, saying that if polls are not held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies then the caretaker governments would be deemed illegal.

Pti chairman imran khan said in a televised address via video link from his Zaman Park residence in lahore friday evening.

“we will start the movement from lahore, and then kick it off in all other major cities every other day and we will fill all the jails,” he said.

“Such brutal actions have not been taken against political opponents in the country’s history. the treatment meted out to Sheikh rashid and fawad chaudhry is in front of everyone,” he remarked.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 plants is 1,980 mw and apart from the engro coal power plant in thar, all other plants are currently relying on imported coal to produce electricity. although it must be noted that the lucky electric power plant is configured to use domestic coal; it is temporarily importing coal and will shift to coal extracted from thar once the second phase of expansion of the mine is completed. adding on the new coal-based power plants to the grid brings the total energy coming from coal at 3630 mw. this is a mighty increase of 80% from the previous year, and all of it is coming from domestically produced coal reducing the strain on the foreign exchange reserves of the country.

Not so easy there… however, earlier this year Sindh engro coal mining company (Secmc) in a letter had sought the State bank of Pakistan’s (SbP) approval for establishing lcs for additional mining equipment. in this letter of theirs, the company asked for support regarding SbP’s approval for lc opening needed for critical imports required to keep the mine operational. “we need approval for the opening of our regular lcs to ensure continuous supply of tyres and spares parts for our mining equipment,” read the letter. the supply chain needed to keep the machines running at the mine can be compromised due to the sensitive foreign exchange situation. these delays directly affect the operations of the mine as a constant flow of spare parts is needed to keep the machinery in running order.