Pakistan Fast-Tracks Transmission, Infrastructure for Thar Coal Fields

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pakistan is seeking to develop a power transmission network, supporting infrastructure and communications as part of the country's ambitious plans to develop the Thar coal fields in the Sindh province. Pakistan hopes to provide a fuel feed for an additional 10,000 megawatts (MW) of electrical power by 2020.

Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan, the Sindh state governor, said that the government had developed a plan to meet the 2020 generation target and had approached the federal government about the construction of a transmission line, which would connect the Thar coal field with the national grid. Khan said that the network was an integral part of the power plan and should be ready in time to carry the power generated.

Younus Dagha, the provincial secretary of coal and energy development, said that a minimum of 2,400 MW of power would be generated by the Thar project over the next three years. He said that the construction of the transmission line was planned to be completed in two phases by June 2014, with an investment of $230 million.

The Thar coal field has been declared a special economic zone where the rate of return on investment was 20% in dollar terms, Dagha said. In addition, the import of machinery, equipment and vehicles for the coal site was duty-free, while withholding tax, excise duty and other levies were exempted for 30 years, he added.

Road network projects worth $106 million will be completed by the end of 2012; these include a 200-kilometer road to Karachi via Thatta and Badin. A $40 million effluent disposal system to flush water out of the coal field will be completed by the end of the year. Three reverse osmosis plants for producing clean drinking water and a rescue station already have been completed at the site.

The Thar coal field is said to be the seventh-largest coal reserve in the world, at 175 billion tons, and the coal fuel feed will assist Pakistan in becoming self-sufficient in power and generation and make the area into a petrochemical hub.

For related information, see November 30, 2011, article - Thar Coal Fields Development Clinched with $10 Billion in Energy Investments.

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