Islamkot: A 330 MW Thar coal-fired power plant was successfully synchronized with the National Grid from Islamkot area, lifting the total power production from Thar coal to around 3,000MW on Friday. The project is a joint venture among Hub Power Company Ltd (Hubco), Thal Engineering Ltd, Novatex Limited, and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) which is also the EPC contractor.
ThalNova Thar Power Limited is a 330 MW Coal Fired Power Project based on Thar coal. It is part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Minister for State Dr Mahesh Malani, on behalf of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah whose private flight was canceled due to bad weather in Thar, inaugurated the synchronization of 330MW of ThalNova with the national grid by switching the button in the control room of the project.
Hubco Group CEO Kamran Kamal and CEO ThalNova Saleem Ullah Memon gave a detailed briefing to Mr. Malani about the project and lauded the efforts of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for his support and encouragement to the investors for generating electricity from Thar coal. The Chief Minister in his message to the inauguration ceremony said that the addition of power plants like Thal Nova that utilized local fuel would significantly support Pakistan in reducing its dependency on imported fuel. He added that ThalNova has also created hundreds of direct employment opportunities for locals.
Mr. Shah said that the Thar coal reserves could be used to generate 100,000MW electricity for over 200 years. “The utilization of Thar coal would immensely impact Pakistan’s development, allowing the government to save up to $6 billion on fuel imports,” he said. The project started in March 2019 to ensure the earliest utilization of indigenous Thar coal. The project experienced delays due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has now been synchronized with the national grid.
The chief said that ThalNova would utilize indigenous coal from Phase 2 of Sindh Engro Coal Mining at Thar Block 2, and it would bring the cost of energy from Thar Coal Block 2 to Rs 9/kw-hr versus the imported coal plants which cost around Rs 20-30/kw-hr.
