Faisalabad Sitara Chemical power plant

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Faisalabad Sitara Chemical power plant is an operating power station of at least 90-megawatts (MW) in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Faisalabad Sitara Chemical power plant	Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan	31.522924, 73.388223 (exact)

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2: 31.522924, 73.388223

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Emergency/Backup
Unit 1	Operating	coal: unknown	40	subcritical	2016	False
Unit 2	Operating	coal: unknown	50	unknown	2026	False

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd [100%]	Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 2	Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd [100%]	Sitara Chemical Industries Ltd [100.0%]

Project-level captive use details

• Captive industry use (heat or power): power
• Captive industry: Chemicals
• Non-industry use: power

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): domestic

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The 40 MW coal plant at Sitara Chemical Industries was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in September 2016. The project supplies their chemical facility, and any excess power is provided to the grid.

Expansion Unit

In a notice issued to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on October 21, 2020, Sitara expressed interest in expanding its coal fired power plant by 40 MW. The company indicated it was willing to invest Rs5.5 billion (US$35 million) in doing so.

According to Daily Pakistan Today, this represents more than twice the sum of money it invested in expanding its core business in 2019-2020, and raises significant questions not just about the kind of infrastructure that exists in Pakistan for large scale manufacturing, but also for the potentially highly skewed incentives currently on offer by the government of Pakistan to companies that set up coal-fired power generation units.

As of October 2020, the project was expected to be completed by December 2022.

In January 2021, the company signed a contract with M/s Shandong Yangzhuo Energy Development Co., Limited (SYEDCL) for the engineering design of the project. A kick off meeting for the expansion was held on January 15, 2021.

As of November 2022, Sitara reported that with the changing economic scenario and increase in imported coal prices, the company had redesigned the expansion project to use lignite coal (both local and imported) as feed stock. The new Unit would have the flexibility of using both local lignite coal or imported bituminous coal or any mix of these coals. Sitara further reported that work on the expansion was in progress, and negotiations with technology suppliers and with the engineering design company had been completed for major equipment (boiler, turbine and generator). The project was expected to be completed by June 2024.

Planet satellite imagery from 2022 seemed to show work was taking place at the site.

In their 2023 Annual Report, which was published in September 2023, Sitara stated that "civil work" on the expansion was in progress and some of the boiler, turbine, and generator equipment had arrived at the site.

As of February 2024, the expansion project was still "in progress". In May 2024, equipment for Unit 2 was reportedly still being procured.

As of September 2024, construction of the new unit was in "full swing". According to Sitara Chemical's 2024 Annual Report, the boiler’s erection work was "substantially completed". The unit was listed as 50 MW.

As of January 2025, the company was "actively working on" the 50 MW unit. As of March 2025, equipment installation was ongoing.

In November 2025, it was reported that the project encountered some initial teething issues. However, work to resolve them was underway, and a Commercial Operation Date (COD) was expected to be announced once these issues were addressed.

As of March 2026, the 50 MW unit was in "the final stages of testing and commissioning". The unit was expected to start operating in the "near term", but Sitara Chemical's quarterly report noted that the war in the Middle East could impact performance.

In May 2026, Unit 2 began operating.

Financing

Unit 1

In June 2014, a financing agreement for Unit 1 of the project was closed. US$12,478,000 in loans was provided by MCB Bank, United Bank Limited, and Meezan Bank Limited. Meezan Bank Limited acted as financial adviser.

Unit 2

The company stated in October 2020 that the project would be financed through borrowing from Islamic banks. As per the rating report from VIS from June 2024, the construction of the plant is being financed with 77% debt and 23% equity. The total project cost is PKR 10.5 bln (ca USD 38 million), of which PKR 4.8 bln has already been secured through bank financing. The remaining funding requirements will be met through an additional PKR 1 bln loan from a bank and PKR 2.3 bln from the issuance of Sukuk (bond-like Islamic finance issuance). In March 2025, the PKR 2.3 bln Sukuk issuance was reported as successfully closed. In May 2025, Mohsin Tayebaly & Co. stated that it had been engaged as transaction legal counsel for the issuance of rated, DSLR-listed, secured, long-term Shariah-compliant Sukuk Certificates by Sitara Chemical Industries Limited in the aggregate amount of PKR 2.3 bln. In May 2026, Sitara Chemical Industries announced through a Pakistan Stock Exchange material information filing that the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the 50 MW coal-fired power plant had been successfully achieved on May 4, 2026.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.