PPIB’s Efforts Bear Fruit – First IPP on Thar Coal Realized Through PPIB

Islamabad, 19th March 2019: Pakistan's first ever power plant based on Thar coal starts generating electricity. The first unit of 2 x 330 MW Engro Powergen Project has been synchronized and started supplying power to the national grid. This is the beginning of a new golden chapter in the energy history of Pakistan as the Thar coal will provide energy security, save billions of dollars of precious foreign exchange which is the first step towards the self-reliance, generate thousands of jobs in one of the most remote areas and provide model housing schemes and clean drinking water to the Thar project under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of various mining and power generation companies. Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) under the Power Division has remained the main driving force alongwith Government of Sindh, SECMC, Engro Group of Companies and Chinese companies to achieve this historic milestone. This significant feat marks a new era for energy security in Pakistan and the realization of Thar dream.

The project is being implemented as "Prioritized Project" under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a game changer initiative for development of mega energy and infrastructure projects in the country. The project is a joint venture between Engro Powergen Ltd, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) & Liberty Mills Limited, and is being developed at a cost of US$ 995.4 million private investment. This is yet another example of efficient processing by PPIB that the project has been able to successfully achieve synchronization with the national grid today. Earlier the company started construction activities after achieving Financial Close on 4th April 2016 and signing Security Package Agreements.

The vision of relying indigenous thar coal reserves for meeting energy needs has become a reality after decades of relentless efforts put in by federal and provincial stakeholders while China-Pakistan Economic Corridor further supplemented these efforts for making thar coal a harbinger of prosperous Pakistan. Thar Coal Project will not only be the game-changer in the energy sector of Pakistan, it will also be creating ripples of prosperity on the local and regional level as well, transforming lives of the Thari people. In addition to this, PPIB/GoP plans to induct additional capacity of more than 4,000 MW in the system by mid of 2021 which would be further enhanced to 24,000 MW by 2040 based on Thar coal.

PPIB vows to push boundaries and remains committed to facilitate private investors in establishing more like projects for powering Pakistan for a prosperous tomorrow. The project is amongst the fleet of twenty six multi-fuel projects of around 14,500 MW being processed by PPIB which is being targeted to be fully functional by June this year.