ISLAMABAD, Dec 16: The Orient Power Company Limited here on Saturday achieved the financial closure of its 225-megawatt thermal power plant to be located at Balloki near Lahore. It is the first independent power plant to achieve financial closure under the Policy for Power Generation Projects 2002.

The chief executive officer of the OPCL, Nadeem Babar, and the managing director of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board signed the documents here at the PPIB offices.

Capable of operating on dual fuel, the power plant is based on combined cycle technology and will use gas as the primary input. Financial closure is the process of completing all project-related financial transactions, finalising and closing financial accounts of the project and disposing of project assets, etc.

This is a prerequisite to project closure. The estimated cost of the OPCL project is over $170 million.