Pakistan's Thar coal projects bring 2640 MW of power generation: Minister

February 28, 2023 (MLN): The total power generation from local Thar coal has reached 2640 megawatts (MW) on the back of the formal commissioning of the 1320 MW Shanghai Electric Thar Coal Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Federal Minister for Power Division, Engineer Khurram Dastgir said today during a press conference.

He also appreciated the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for adding a total of 1980 MW of cheap electricity to the system from indigenous Thar coal resources in just 10 months.

This would not only help reduce power load-shedding in the summer season but also help in power tariff reduction.

The minister highlighted that Thar has 175 billion tons of coal reserves, which is sufficient to generate 100,000 MW of electricity. He also thanked the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, and Sindh’s Energy Minister, Imtiaz Sheikh, for their cooperation in achieving this milestone.

In addition to the Thar coal projects, the minister announced that the Bolan-Gwadar Transmission Line has been completed. This project will help import 100 MW of electricity from Iran to Gwadar, which has been a major issue in the past. The transmission line will start operating in mid-March.

He also noted that the request for proposals to set up the first 600 MW solar project at Muzaffargarh has already been opened, and open bidding for the project will be held on April 17. These local indigenous resources power projects would not only help address energy issues but also help in the reduction of power tariffs in the country.

The minister acknowledged that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has some reservations over circular debt and wants some guarantee on it during the next fiscal year. However, he reassured the public that no change is being made to the basic power tariff fixed last summer.

Regarding power load-shedding for industrial consumers during the winter, the minister confirmed that none was carried out. He added that over 150,000 industrial consumers will be shifted to the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) System by June.

This will help with the round-the-clock monitoring of the meters.

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