RE: Mention in International News8 Feb 2021 08:19
****stan is committed to mitigate impact of climate change, pursuant to the Agreement concluded at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris during November-December 2015, with the goal of limiting the rise of global temperatures to below 2 degree Celsius. Last year Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated this commitment at the 2019 Climate Change Conference, declaring that no new coal-fired power plant would be set up in the country.
In reality, as many as eight coal-based power plants are in advanced stages of construction, scheduled to be operational by 2021-2026. These projects of 4,290-MW cumulative capacity, mostly based on indigenous coal, are being established under the China-****stan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme. The list includes (i) Hubco Thar Energy Coal Power of 330-MW capacity scheduled for commercial operations by December 2021, (ii) Lucky Electric Power 660-MW, scheduled for completion in March 2021 but delayed by about a year, (iii) Siddiqsons Energy 330-MW, expected to be completed in 2021, (iv) Shanghai Electric Coal Power 1,320-MW, to be operational in May 2022, (v) ThalNova Thar Coal Power 330-MW, to be operational by June 2022, (vi) Gwadar Coal (CHIC Pak Power) 300-MW, based on imported coal, to be completed by June 2023, (vii) Siddiqsons Energy 330-MW to achieve commercial operations in July 2023, and (viii) Thar Electricity (Oracle) Coal 1,320-MW projected for completion in December 2026. In addition, Shanghai Electric Coal Power has been allowed to setup two power plants, each of 1320-MW, and K-Electric ‘s coal-based power project of 700-MW capacity.
It is simply not possible for the government, and neither feasible, to stop construction and completion of any of these projects, which are mostly under the CPEC umbrella. Interestingly, CPEC portfolio of energy projects of 11,648-MW has over 70 perecnt share of coal-based power projects with total capacity of 8,220-MW. The necessary approvals were granted at various levels of government without any concern for the environment or international commitments on climate change.
At present, coal-based power generation, with total 4,868-MW installed capacity, has a significant share of 12.6 percent in total energy mix as on June 30, 2020. Undoubtedly, there has been an exponential growth of coal-based power generation, considering there were no major coal-based units as late as 2017. Today, there are four major coal-based power plants of cumulative 4,620-MW capacity connected to national grid, and another five small and captive power plants in capacity ranging from 20-MW to 118-MW that are selling surplus power to the distribution companies.
The existing major coal-based power plants are (i) Sahiwal Coal Power of Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (****stan) Energy, 1,320-MW capacity, which was the first CPEC project completed, and generating electricity since October 2017, (ii) Port Qasim Coal-Fired Power Plant, another CPEC project, of Port Qasim Energy Holding
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