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WAPDA allowed to import coal for power generation

By Fida Hussain

ISLAMABAD: The Planning and Development (P&D) Division has agreed to one of the major demands of the Water and Power Ministry and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to import coal for exclusive use of electricity generation, a senior government official told the Daily Times.

“The P&D stopped the opposition to the idea, which has recently been floated after WAPDA informed the government about power loadshedding plan,” said the official. Though officially there is no loadshedding, electricity breakdowns are common as the country is facing electricity shortage of around 800MW, according to the official.

There are fears that import of coal would further delay the development of indigenous coal resources, said the official. He said that federal and provincial authorities have failed to develop the Thar coal project. The P&D was of the view that if the import of coal was allowed, then the local resource development will be totally ignored.

The government plans developing the Thar coal for power generation on a priority basis to overcome energy crisis. However, this plan could not be implemented again on timely basis. There are confirmed estimates that Thar coal 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, according to the official. The decision to accord top priority to coal was taken because there was no tangible or bankable progress on three proposed gas import pipelines.

By using only two per cent of the existing coal reserves, the country would be in a position to generate around 20,000 megawatts for almost 40 years, said the official. Coal mining in Thar requires a phased investment of four billion US dollars, the official added.

The official said that the P&D agreed to the proposed coal at a meeting held here the other day. The meeting was chaired by member energy Dr Asad Ali Shah.

The water and power authorities had informed the meeting that they had no other option as the gas availability could not be ensured to the power generation projects across the board.

At a separate meeting held at the water and power ministry on Tuesday, the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and the existing IPPs had informed that they would not be able to operate efficiently if WAPDA failed to pay them their dues. The official said that the minister for water and power is expected to take up the issue of gas provision to the IPPs with the ministry of petroleum and natural Resources (MPNR), which, according to the official, failed to provide gas to the IPPs as agreed at a meeting held early this month.

The official said that the MPNR and its gas distribution companies SNGPL and SSGC failed to adjust over 70MMCFD gas to the power generation projects. This issue is expected to be taken up with the MPNR as this plan was also approved by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

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