ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The government has decided to develop the Thar coal for power generation on a priority basis to overcome energy crisis following confirmed estimates that its reserves were equivalent to at least 850 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas — about 30 times higher than Pakistan’s proven gas reserves of 28 TCF.

“By using only two per cent of the existing coal reserves, we can generate around 20,000 megawatts for almost 40 years,” deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh told Dawn after presiding over a meeting on energy security. Coal mining in Thar requires a phased investment of $4 billion.

These estimates were confirmed by separate bankable feasibility studies conducted by Chinese and Russian experts. “We have so much of energy at home but we are looking for imported fuels,” he said, adding an effort was being made to correct the situation.

The studies had also confirmed that 185 billion tons of coal deposits in Pakistan were second only to 247-billion-ton reserves in the United States and much higher than 157 and 115-billion-ton reserves of Russia and China, respectively. Another senior official said the decision to accord top priority to coal was taken because there was no tangible or bankable progress on three proposed gas import pipelines.

Dr Sheikh said Thar coal reserves were equivalent to at least 400 billion barrels of oil — equivalent to oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran put together. One estimate puts Pakistan’s coal energy at 576 billion barrels of oil which is equivalent to combined oil reserves of the three largest producers.