Khalid Mansoor, CEO, Hubco, told Business Recorder that the 2x660MW project is well into execution. The engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) contractors for power plant and integrated jetty have been mobilised and have begun works since August last year. "After the signing of power purchase and implementation agreements, we want the project to be up and running by committed Commercial Operation Date (COD) of August, 2019."
The 2x660MW project along with a coal-handling jetty, is one of the largest coal based power projects and the only one in province of Balochistan being constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The over US $2 billion power plant will utilise state-of-the-art supercritical technology to generate low-cost electricity with maximum efficiency. The Supercritical technology also ensures minimum environmental impact and compliance with World Bank standards for all environmental gaseous emissions and liquid effluents. The said project being constructed beside Hubco's current plant in District Hub, Balochistan would approximately replace 1.6 million tons /annum of oil import and is valued at more than $650 million per annum.
The project will contribute approximately 9 billion kWh of cheaper electricity annually into the national grid under a 30-year power purchase agreement entered with Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited. It will provide energy security to the country along with lowering the cost of manufacturing of products making the country competitive in exports.
Hubco is also an equity partner in SECMC which is working at the Thar coal mining site. Khalid Mansoor informed that Hubco is a proud investor in Thar which will be the sustainable energy life-line for the country. The progress of the coal mine project is very promising and over 72 feet of overburden has been removed out of a total 196 meter in order to recover the coal from Thar Coal site.
He said that domestic coal fields were unexplored to date, despite having 175 billion tons of coal reserves which is much larger than the combined oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran, in terms of energy equivalent molecule. Each block at Thar, when scaled up, can extract over 19 million tons of coal per annum which in turn will help generate over 4000 MW of electricity.
Globally, 42 percent electricity is produced through coal, 21 percent by gas, 16 percent by hydro, 13 percent by nuclear, only 5 percent by oil and 3 percent through other renewable sources. In contrast with global trend, Pakistan is virtually producing no electricity through coal, right now.
The project construction will provide an employment opportunities to locals through induction of skilled, semi-skilled and un-skilled workforce through EPC contractors and sub-contractors.
Additionally, other economic activities around the project site are also likely to witness a major increase. New schools, medical centers, basic infrastructure around the site and technical training programs for the youth will immensely help the residents of Hub and Thar areas.
Praising the Power Ministry and the federal government, he said, "The credit goes to the current government machinery sitting in Islamabad for essentially alleviating power crisis in the country by 2018 - 19".
Talking about corporate social responsibility, he said, "Our focus areas are health, education, physical infrastructure and livelihood of the communities around our plants. We are running fully funded Solar powered school of 450 students in collaboration with The Citizens Foundation (TCF), at our Hub plant. Along with free education, students are provided with free transportation within 20km radius. We are further opening three more such schools for the local villages of Hub.
Khalid Mansoor, who also holds the office of Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) as President, said that one can expect a lot of industrialisation in the country once ample power is available for the local and foreign investors. He said that a lot of foreign investment would be coming into the country after investors have seen the demonstration of current Government's resolve to address the power and law & order issues in this short term.
Talking about CPEC, Khalid Mansoor said that it's a win-win for Pakistan and China. Apart from building crucial infrastructure for the long-term needs of Pakistan, CPEC is aimed at solving the biggest hurdle in our economic progress, which is a severe power and infrastructure deficit, being faced by the country which had severely affected economic growth.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017