News
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Govt fully committed to developing Thar coal: QaimStaff Report
KARACHI: Fifteenth meeting of the Thar Coal & Energy Board (TCEB) was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the CM House here on Saturday.
Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Sindh Board of Investment (SBoI) Chairman Zubair Motiwala, Member (Energy) Planning Commission Shahid Sattar, Federal Secretary Water & Power Zafar Mehmood, Secretary Coal and Energy Development Department (CEDD) Mohammad Sohail Rajput and Managing Director TCEB attended the meeting. According to a hand out, Sindh CM said that the government was fully committed to developing Thar coal. Thar coal resources can be used for power generation, chemical production and other uses and has the potential of providing energy security to the country, he said. He stressed that the work on project be accelerated for the benefit of the people.
Secretary CEDD informed that Sindh government was giving high priority to the infrastructure development required for coal mining and power generation projects in Thar. He said the government of Sindh had allocated Rs 8.5 billion in the current financial year for schemes of improvement of roads, water supply, disposal of effluent/waste water from Thar coalfield and construction of an airport. He also briefed the board that Ministry of Water and Power was pursuing the policy of conversion of oil-based power plants under IPPs and GENCOs, on imported coal. These retrofitted plants will be gradually shifted from imported coal to Thar coal in future, when coal from Thar would be available, he said.
“This will provide much needed energy security to the country and subsequent saving of foreign exchange by reducing the import bill. In this regard, it is essential to ensure that the project sponsors for converting oil based power plants, should design their boilers in such a manner that they become compatible with the specifications of Thar coal,” he added.
SBoI chairman appreciated the present policy of government to shift from oil-based power plant to coal-based plants and said it will drastically reduce the problem of circular debt. Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) CEO Shamsuddin Shaikh also supported the plan and said existing power plants with the capacity of 5,500 MW could be converted on coal. He also explained the efforts of SECMC in getting lending from Chinese financial institutions for his project of coal mining and power generation at Block-II.
Secretary water & power assured the board that the government will issue a policy guideline to all stakeholders, particularly the GENCOs Holding Company and a policy will be formulated so that the retrofitting of oil-based power plants could be done in such a manner that those plants become compatible with the specifications of Thar coal. He further informed that National Transmission and Dispatch Company has prepared the PC-1 for evacuation of power from Thar to Matiari at the cost of Rs 22 billion. The Planning Commission has recommended the scheme for approval of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) after confirmation of source of financing, he said and added that many international donor agencies have taken interest in this scheme and it will be taken to ECNEC for approval.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk