ISLAMABAD: Hub Power Company (Hubco) signed on Friday an implementation agreement and a supplemental implementation agreement with the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) for 330-megawatt Thar coal-based power project.

These agreements will materialise the financing of around $500 million as project cost.

The agreements were signed by PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and Hubco Chief Financial Officer Fatima Maryam. The project will be developed at Thar Block-II and utilise indigenous coal for power generation. The project company is Thar Energy Ltd.

A letter of support has been issued to the project by PPIB. It is currently in an advanced stage of achieving financial close. In order to ensure a timely completion of the project, the sponsors have started construction activities prior to achieving financial close. The project is likely to start power generation by the end of 2020.

The project is among 12 coal and hydro power projects of around 11,000MW being facilitated by PPIB under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Speaking on the occasion, the PPIB managing director said the CPEC is a game-changer as growing investments have enhanced the confidence of stakeholders in Pakistan’s energy sector.

The development of these projects will be instrumental in generating economic activities as well as employment opportunities for area residents in particular and entail an improvement in basic infrastructure in the vicinity of these projects, he said.

Another project of 660kV transmission line under the CPEC is also being implemented by PPIB to evacuate electricity from new power generation units in the south to load centres in the north.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2017