Karachi: The executive director of but Sindh Resources PVT LTD (SSRL), Li Jigen, has declared that the cost of energy generation of the-1 block of the Thar region is RS5.52 per unit, significantly cheaper than the energy produced from hydroelectric sources.
This was said while talking at a public hearing convened by the Thar coal and energy board (TCEB) on Thursday regarding the request of the SSRL for the determination of the stage of the stage of the date of commercial operations (COD) for its lignite mine per year of 7.8 million tons located in block 1 of Thar Coalfield.
Several interested parties, experts and members of the public attended the audience.
The managing director of TCEB, Tariq Ali Shah, and President Ammar Habib Khan, Finance/Power Member, and Dr. Fahad Irfan Siddiqui, Determination Committee for Mining Coal Rate of Member Mining, made the audience.
During the presentation, Mr. Li reported that the project is in the Thar region of the southeast Sindh part, and the project includes super critic generation units of high parameter of 2x660MW, backed by an annual production of 7.8 million tons of lignite pit coal mine.
The open coal mine mine project of the coal field of the coal field covers an area of 150 km² with approximately a coal reserve of 2.6 billion tons inside the block, said Mr. Li.
He said that the project has been placed in a favorable position in the list of merit orders of the National Transmission and Dispatch (NTDC) company, demonstrating its competitive prices and profitability compared to other energy sources by producing electricity units in RS5.52 or 0.02 cents per kWh.
The Thaha Block-1 integrated energy project is a significant initiative within the energy sector of the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, and serves as a central energy cooperation project under the framework of the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC). This project is developed and financed by Shanghai Electric, a state company and that is quoted in the stock exchange in Shanghai, China.
Posted in Dawn, March 14, 2025
