Power China to build power plant outside Karachi

[TaiShang]

Power China to build power plant outside Karachi
By Chu Daye Source:Global Times Published: 2015-4-9 23:03:01

State infrastructure giant to cooperate with Qatari firm on Pakistan project

An exhibition booth of Power China in East China's Fujian Province Photo: CFP

A subsidiary of State-owned infrastructure giant Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd (Power China) announced on Thursday that it will cooperate with a Qatari company to build a $2 billion power plant outside Karachi in Pakistan to overcome local energy shortage.

According to Power China's exchange filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Sinohydro Resources Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power China and an arm of the parent company's overseas investment business, will cooperate with Al Mirqab Capital, a Qatari investment firm, to jointly build a coal-fired plant in Qasim, some 37 kilometers southeast of Pakistan's economic powerhouse Karachi.

Total investment will be around $2.09 billion and the Chinese firm will own a 51 percent stake and its Qatari partner a 49 percent stake in the project.

"The issue of connectivity lies at the center of the current stage cooperation between China and Pakistan, and this includes infrastructure projects like grids, roads, railways, and cable networks," Tian Yun, chief editor of the China Macroeconomic Information Network, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Infrastructure projects are the prerequisites for further bilateral economic cooperation, like those in the industrial sectors, Tian said.

"China faces a power glut and a shrinking market in power plant construction," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Overseas power projects in general have better yields than domestic ones as the price of electricity is usually higher abroad and it is only natural for domestic companies to look for opportunities abroad, Lin said.

Experts say the rapidly developing textile industry in Pakistan, as well as emerging industries such as processing trade, and a swelling middle class on top of a large population base have created a strong demand for electricity in Pakistan.

The Pakistan government has announced it will add 10,400 megawatts (MW) to the national grid with the help of China by 2017, the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan reported in March.

Tian applauded the involvement of capital from a partner country as the financing pressure for the infrastructure project is shared and suggested the practice be copied by other Chinese invested projects.

He noted that Chinese companies have significant cost performance advantages in building infrastructure projects.

"In the long run, Chinese companies would have the option to relocate some of its production capacity to Pakistan, due to the country's large population base and relatively low labor cost," Tian said.

The plant in Qasim will have two 660 MW generators and will take 32 months to complete, planning to use seaborne coal from Indonesia as fuel in the future, according to the Power China filing.

The company said possible risks include foreign exchange loss, overdue payments of electricity fees, and stability issues.

The risks in payment can be lowered by working on contract terms, Lin said.

Sinohydro's existing overseas projects include hydro plants in Cambodia and Laos, according to the company's website.

The filing said the Qasim plant was identified as one of several early-harvest projects of the Sino-Pakistan Economic Corridor proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a visit to Pakistan in May 2013.

"For China, which wants to achieve a higher level of regional economic cooperation, steps must be taken to get the ball rolling, and countries like Pakistan should be among the first to feel such a push," Tian said.

Power China's overseas investment has increased in the past few years with the volume of its new contracts reaching 86.04 billion yuan in 2014, up from 73.71 billion yuan in 2013.

 

[Indus Falcon]

The plant in Qasim will have two 660 MW generators and will take 32 months to complete, planning to use seaborne coal from Indonesia as fuel in the future, according to the Power China filing.

Why can't they use coal from Baluchistan?

 

[AliWaqar]

Why can't they use coal from Baluchistan?

Bhai sab balochi coal use karny sy commision acha nai banta na

 

[xyxmt]

Bhai sab balochi coal use karny sy commision acha nai banta na

why do Pakistani always talk like kids
do you think Baluchi Coal is laying on top of ground, just pick it up and burn it.
Do you know why they are constructing this project in Bin Qasim?

 

[AliWaqar]

why do Pakistani always talk like kids
do you think Baluchi Coal is laying on top of ground, just pick it up and burn it.
Do you know why they are constructing this project in Bin Qasim?

nai g mujhy tu bilkul nai pata itna pata ha k Dr samar mubarik ny kaha tha k main coal ko with in 2 year use main la sakta hun

 

[xyxmt]

nai g mujhy tu bilkul nai pata itna pata ha k Dr samar mubarik ny kaha tha k main coal ko with in 2 year use main la sakta hun

pehley to Dr Samarqand bohot TV pe aa key bolta tha, ab do saal guzar gye to bilkul chup kun hay, kun nehe ata TV pe aur bataey ke pichly do say me 50 million kharch ker ke kia kya us ne.

Chinese company is setting up the coal plant, with their own money, they have no interest with Dr saab and his claims, they have no interest in Pakistan other than that coal plant. They are setting it up as a business venture and expecting to make profit like any business will do, in business there is no Watan ki mohabat but paisy ki mohabat. they will buy coal from anywhere as long as they get the cheapest price including logistic. they are setting it up at Bin qasim bacause it will be cheaper to get coal from Australia with ship than transporting coal from any part of Pakistan via road since Pakistan railway is completely defunc as far as material transportation goes.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

Bhai sab balochi coal use karny sy commision acha nai banta na

Isi liye kehte hain k School jaya kro kuch seekh lo Internet mil gya hai to kya kuch bhi post kro gai??

That wala coal Lignite coal hai jo k low quality coal hai Jo Indonesia se coal aai ga wo High quality coal hoga... Jo Coal Thar me nikalta hai wo that me power plants pe use hoga q k wo jaldi fire catch kr leta hai dhoop me

Thar coalfield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



According to the World Energy Council, Pakistan has a little more than 2,000 million tons of proven recoverable coal reserves. That number is supported by British Petroleum’s similar estimates and contrasts with the Sindh Government’s total predicted estimates of about 2,357 million tons (this number does not include ‘indicated’ and ‘inferred’ reserves). This compared with Germany’s lignite reserves of about 40,600 million tons and India’s reserves of about 4,500 million tons seems small. Pakistan’s coal reserves are in effect only the 134th largest coal reserves in the world. But if you want to know what a resource is really worth, you need to rely on the word of someone who’s willing to pay for it. The last company that was willing to invest in Thar’s coal reserves, the Shenhua Group China, estimated that they could produce about 3.5 million tons of coal per year from the mines, which they translated into 600 MW of power generation. Pakistan’s energy shortage is now in the thousands of megawatt per day.

It is important to measure the potential of Thar coal in terms of megawatts of power per day because the kind of coal that Thar has, is of little use besides conversion to electricity onsite. Lignite, which is the least energy intensive form of coal, according to some definitions, is not coal at all. In fact, it is considered a dirty energy source lying somewhere on the spectrum between coal and peat with carbon content between 25% to 35%. The fixed carbon content of Thar coal is less than 22%. The low carbon content translates into low energy generation capacity, which means that if energy is invested into transporting the lignite from source to point of consumption, the net energy output of the mining, extraction, transportation and conversion process becomes less than zero; you end up investing more energy making energy out of coal than you get out of it in terms of megawatts. In order to get any energy out of lignite, it has to be converted into electricity almost entirely onsite; where it is being mined. Which brings us to the first reason why Thar coal will not save Pakistan.