MoU on Thar Coal Power project to be inked during Aziz's visit to Beijing

ISLAMABAD: The Shenhua Group Corporation, a Chinese firm, will start work on the proposed 600-mega watt Thar Coal power project worth 600 million dollars in January next year.

A formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard will be signed during Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's three-day long official visit to Beijing starting from today (Tuesday).

A government official told Online on Monday that two agreements were signed with the firm vis-ŕ-vis the power project.

The first one, pertaining to the land and minerals involved, was signed by the Sindh government, whereas the other one, relating to the installation of two power plants of capacities of 300 MW each and fixing of electricity rates, was signed by the federal government.

He said that coal deposits in Thar were estimated at 175 billion tons, which are likely to increase up to 200 billion tons.

The project would have an operational life of 25-30 years and the tariff would start coming down after an initial period of debt repayment, he said.

At present level of production of the country i.e. 2000 MW, he said that the deposits could meet the requirements of electric generation for the next 200 years.

A portion covering 50 square kilometres has been earmarked for Shenhua Group Corp. of China to set up two power plants of 300 mega-watts each, the official said.

He said with the launch of project, at least 10,000 people would get jobs in the initial phase.

He said the Thar coal deposits had been divided into four blocks while a Chinese firm was preparing feasibility of the first block that of the second block is with a German firm.

He said that the coal-based power plants would cause no problem like environmental pollution, as sophisticated equipment would be used to check pollution.

The excavation of coal would be carried out through the open-pit technology, he said.