Mirpurkhas, a small district in Sindh, draw the attention of whole nation on Friday when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari laid the ground-breaking foundation of the mega Thar Coal Power Project aimed to resolve the energy deprivation in Pakistan.
The project will be carried out by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) a joint venture between Engro Powergen and Sindh Government. It is situated in Block – II of Tharparkar District and spread over an area of 79.6 square kilometers and will be completed with a total cost of $1.6 billion by 2017.
According to a feasibility study, the project is commercially viable and has no significant environmental threats and social implications.
In the Phase I, the project will develop coal mining and power project with a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per annum and 660 MW.
Subsequently, the mine will be expanded to a coal capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum to support a 1,300 MW power plant. The power plant’s capacity would be increased from 660MW to 1,320MW at a later stage.
In Phase II, it is planned to expand mining project to 13.5 million tonnes and 19.5 million tonnes, with a power generation capacity of 2,400 MW and 3,600 MW.
It may be recalled that Sindh Government has already spent over Re 20 billion for the development of infrastructure, provision of water through left bank outfall drain (LBOD) after refining it through RO plants and construction of road via Badin and Thatta and other basic necessities.
Nearly 230km transmission lines would be stretched to link the plant with the national grid, said the spokesman of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company.
Companies willing to invest in the coal project would be given incentives added SECMC Spokesman.
Total 12 blocks of Thar coal minings had been set up.
Thar coal deposits described as the 6th largest coal reserves in the world were discovered in 1991 by Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and the United State Agency for International Development.
Total estimates of coal in Pakistan are recorded at 186 billion tonne‚ while 175 billion tonnes are located in Thar Coal field‚ which are considered one of the biggest treasures in the world, sufficient to meet the country’s fuel requirements for centuries.
Renowned scientist Dr Samar Mubarakmand is supervising coal mining under ground gasification programme where work was in progress in four blocks of underground gasification project.
Sindh Government had announced to resettle the population of the mining field.