KARACHI – A Chinese state-owned corporation has expressed willingness to invest in the Thar coal project and other power projects in the province. China Godian Group Chairperson Renaiquin shared these views during her meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the Chief Minister’s House on Wednesday, where provincial government officials briefed her about Thar coalfield. She is leading a seven-member Chinese delegation currently on a visit to the country. According to an official handout, the China Godian Group chairman said the corporation – working in the power sector based on coal, solar, wind energy and also in petrochemicals while generating 88,000MW power in China – will prepare a detailed proposal for the Thar coal power project and send it to the Sindh government for further negotiations.
The group is generating 6,000MW through solar energy and 3,000MW through wind power generation besides possessing all types of machinery, equipments and operators with maintenance facilities.
Welcoming the Chinese delegation, the chief minister said that Pakistan and China enjoy friendly relations that have gained strength, adding that the Chinese prime minister during his visit to Pakistan had expressed that his country wanted to invest in Pakistan particularly in the energy sector. “Pakistan intends to avail the facilities from China, which has achieved remarkable development and progress in various sectors,” said Shah. Speaking on the occasion, Adviser to Chief Minister on Investment Zubair Motiwala said that China was a trustworthy friend of Pakistan and hoped that China Guodian Group will fully participate in the development process of Thar coal and energy project. He added that the project is commercially viable and the Chinese group can also utilise solar and wind energy together with coal gasification for power generation.
In a detailed briefing, Sindh Coal and Energy Development Department Secretary Aijaz Ali Khan informed that there are 860 billion tonnes coal reserves in the world which include 405 billion tonnes bituminous and anthracite, 260 billion tonnes sub-biluminous and 195 billion tonnes of lignite. According to a survey of energy resources in 2010 by the World Energy Council, the use of coal will rise by 60 percent by the year 2030, while the share of coal in power generation is set to increase from 41 percent to 44 percent by 2030. “The Sindh province has coal reserves of 186.560 billion tonnes, with Punjab having 235 million tonnes, Balochistan 217 million tonnes, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 90 million tonnes and with Azad Kashmir having nine million tonnes of coal,” said Khan.
Highlighting socio-economic impacts of load shedding, he said that Pakistan was facing an acute energy shortage leading to losses estimated at $37 billion between 2007 and 2012, while a loss of Rs 219 billion to the industrial sector alone was reported during 2008. “The vision for Thar coal project is to develop a source of power generation for energy and economic security of the country and a hub of petrochemical industry, while as per goals, at least 10,000MW power will be generated by 2020,” added Khan.
