Pakistan is looking into the possibility of procuring coal from Indonesia for its coal-fired power generation projects.
A pre-bid conference was arranged in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to procure coal for 1,320 MW government-owned Jamshoro Power Plant, funded by the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
A delegation of the Ministry of Water and Power led by Secretary Muhammad Younus Dagha attended the pre-bid conference which was joined by Indonesian coal suppliers and Indonesian Coal Mining Association.
Secretary Younus Dagha apprised the Indonesian investors that Pakistan required 15-20 million tonnes of coal from Indonesia annually once the plants become operational.
Dagha was of the view that since Indonesia was the largest exporter of mid calorific value (CV) coal in the world, Pakistan expected from the companies of the brotherly companies to not only supply coal but also help Pakistan in developing and investing in Thar coal reserves.
He informed the Indonesian companies that Pakistan was constructing four coal-fired power plants of over 1,000 MW each, which would be completed by the end of 2017.
He expressed interest in import Indonesian mid CV coal of 4,600 to 6,000 kcal/kg to generate power.
The participants were informed that one power plant was government-owned and three were owned by the private sector.
The CEO of Jamshoro Power Company Limited, Engr. Iftikhar Aziz said that 3.5 million tonnes of 4,750 to 6,000 kcal/kg coal was needed from Indonesia annually for this plant alone for which 10 suppliers would be short-listed and a Coal Supply Agreement would be signed with them.
The last date of submission of bid to the Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad is March 29, 2016.
The delegation had a meeting with Indonesian Coal Mining Association Executive Director Supriatna Suhala as well as vice chairman of the Association.
Suhala said the total coal production in Indonesia is estimated at around 425 million tonnes per year but reduced demand from China had a major impact on the coal price which had plunged to $50/tonne. In 2015 , coal imports from China fell by 30 per cent.