ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday approved 1,400MW power project to be set up on Thar coal by the Shanghai Electric Group of China.

The project is among the “prioritised projects” under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is scheduled to start power generation in 2017-18.

The approval was accorded at a meeting of the board of directors of Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) presided over by Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

The meeting was informed that Shanghai Electric would install four power units of 350MW each at Thar.

This is the second Thar coal- based power project in the independent power project (IPP) mode approved by the PPIB board, first being the 660MW Engro Power Project.

The development of Thar coal resources is expected to provide a major breakthrough to develop huge generation capacity using cheap local coal.

The board also approved the signing of memorandum of understanding between PPIB, China Three Gorges Corporation and Silk Road Fund China for the development of private hydropower projects in Pakistan.

The Silk Road Fund is a development fund newly created by the Government of China, with its main focus on infrastructure and energy development as well as industrial and road initiatives.

China Three Gorges is already developing three hydropower projects in Pakistan namely the 720MW Karot, 1,100MW Kohala and 590MW Mahl on Jhelum River and interested in undertaking more power projects.

The Silk Road Fund is willing to undertake series of cascading projects on run-of-the-river basis in high speed rivers in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

To facilitate the power projects initiated by the provinces, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Board also approved standardised tri-partite Letter of Support (LOS) to be signed by the sponsors, regional and provincial governments and the federal government.

The board also granted approval for issuance of LOS to 150MW coal- based power project at Arifwala, 1,200MW coal fired projects at Sahiwal (Punjab), 1,320MW imported coal fired project at Port Qasim, Sindh and 1,320MW imported coal fired projects at Hub, Balochistan.

The meeting also reviewed progress of ongoing private power projects in context of overall electricity situation in the country.

The managing director of PPIB briefed the Board on coal and hydro based private power generation projects being handled by PPIB, particularly the projects being processed under CPEC.

The meeting decided to expedite the projects implementation for timely completion and noted that delays would be unaffordable.

The minister said the CPEC marked an important step for elimination of power loadshedding and economic development in the country.

The meeting resolved to review progress on both new and ongoing projects regularly to facilitate investors, remove bottlenecks and complete the projects in time.

The meeting was also attended by Secretary Water and Power, Chairman Wapda, MD PPIB and representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Planning as well as representatives from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK, Gligit-Baltistan and FATA and private members.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2015

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