ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has said that Thar coal-fired power generation plant will start producing 660MW electricity by December 2017.
Private Power and Infrastructure Project (PPIB), National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC) Limited and M/s Engro Powergen Limited (EPGL) have signed two basic documents ie Implementation Agreement (IA) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
The IA was signed by PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and EPGL CEO Shamsuddin A Shaikh. The PPA was signed by NTDC MD Engineer Mohammad Arshad Chaudhry and EPGL CEO Shamsuddin A Shaikh. Earlier, it was estimated that power generation would start by mid 2018.
As per the signed documents, Engro Powergen would develop a project of 660MW utilising indigenous Thar lignite coal to be supplied by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company which is the lease holder of Thar Block-II.
Abid Sher Ali said the abundant coal resources in the country were estimated at around 186 billion tons out of which 175 billion tons were found in Thar alone. He said the government was committed to utilising these resources for power generation.
