Govt planning to quadruple domestic coal-fired capacity: Minister

February 14, 2023 (MLN): The government is planning to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters.

A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country's power output, plunged large areas into hours of darkness last year. A surge in global prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and an onerous economic crisis had made LNG unaffordable for Pakistan, as Reuters reported. 

"LNG is no longer part of the long-term plan and the country is planning to increase domestic coal-fired power capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW) in the medium-term, from 2.31 GW currently, he said.

Despite power demand increasing in 2022, Pakistan's annual LNG imports fell to the lowest levels in five years as European buyers elbowed out price-sensitive consumers. 

"We have some of the world's most efficient regasified LNG-based power plants. But we don't have the gas to run them," Dastgir said in an interview.

The South Asian nation, which is battling a wrenching economic crisis and is in dire need of funds, is seeking to reduce the value of its fuel imports and protect itself from geopolitical shocks, he said.

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