KARACHI – Power plants of 3,000MW are running on furnace oil in Pakistan, and if measures are taken to convert them to coal, the country would be in a position to save approximately $1 billion a year, said Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) Strategic Planning and Business Development Manager Muhammad Ammar Ali Talaat on Saturday. He was speaking at an Energy Awareness Conference, with the KESC as the lead sponsor, at the NED University.
The conference was aimed at creating better awareness about the need to shift from traditional energy resources to renewable energy. Addressing the NED students on the use of coal power as an alternative energy source in Pakistan, Talaat said that coal is keeping pace with consumers’ electricity demand. “According to a recent study, coal would still account for about 45 percent to 50 percent of the world’s power generation needs until 2025,” he said, adding that Pakistan has vast reserves of coal that offer the best solution for its energy needs.
It was pointed out that the KESC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese company to convert two of its existing boilers at the Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station from furnace oil to coal. The conversion aims to reduce KESC’s reliance on furnace oil, resulting in cost savings for the company and consumers in the form of tariff reduction. The KESC has also signed an MoU with another Chinese company for developing the Sonda-Jherruck Integrated Coal Mine and Power Plant Project, the annual coal production of which would be 1.8 million tonnes.
Talking about KESC’s Thar Coal Power Project, Talaat said that the power company has partnered with a British company that would handle the mining part, whereas the KESC itself would set up a 300MW power plant that would be enhanced to 1200MW in the future.
