First Thar coal power generation plant in Pakistan inaugurated

• 5 years ago (2019-04-10)
• David Flin

Asia 892 Coal 296

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The first Thar coal power generation plant is to be inaugurated later today, with the formal inauguration being carried out by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. The plant and associated coal-mine are in the Islamkot region.

The Thar coal power plant has a capacity of 660 MW, and consists of two units, each of 330 MW. The power plant is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as China extended financial, technical, and manpower support to complete the project.

Faisal Shafiq, Project Manager at the site, said that one of the power generation units had already been synchronised with the national grid, while synchronisation of the second unit would commence on 10 April. He said that commercial operation would start in June, when the full capacity of the plant would be supplied to the national grid, and that construction of the plant had been completed inside of 36 months. He also said that all environmental concerns had been analysed and answered, and the project had been built in accordance with standards set by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation.

The plant will burn 12,000 tonnes of coal per day.