Pakistan to quadruple domestic coal-fired electricity generation

• 1 year, 10 months ago (2023-02-15)
• David Flin

Asia 899 Coal 301

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The Pakistan Government has announced that it plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and that it will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years to transition away from coal.

Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistan’s Energy Minister, said: “LNG is no longer part of the long-term plan.” He added that the country plans to increase domestic coal-fired power capacity to 10 GW, up from the current capacity of 2.31 GW. Dastgir said: “We have some of the world’s most efficient regasified LNG-based power plants, but we don’t have the gas to run them. Pakistan is seeking to reduce the value of its fuel imports and protect itself from geopolitical shocks. It’s not just the question of being able to generate energy cheaply, but also using domestic sources. That is very important.”

Shanghai Electric Thar plant, a 1.32 GW plant that runs on domestic coal and is funded under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has started to generate electricity.