Siddiqsons power station

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Siddiqsons power station is a proposed 330-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Sindh province, Pakistan.

Location

The map below shows the location of Thar Block-II, the mining area where the plant will be built in Sindh province. Until late 2017 the plant was planned for Port Qasim.

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Background

On December 22, 2014, Siddiqsons Group and China's Harbin Electric International Company, the co-sponsor, signed a consortium agreement to jointly establish a 350 MW coal fired power plant on supercritical technology at Port Qasim, Karachi. The power station was planned for completion in 2019 and was to be based on imported coal. The companies applied for a generation license in March 2015.

The power station was estimated to cost US$550 million, and would be built on 100 acres in the area within the jurisdiction of the Port Qasim Authority (PQA).

At a June 2015 public hearing for the power station, attendees expressed doubts over the capacity, authority, and influence of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to carry out post-environmental impact assessment (EIA) monitoring and ensure the project's compliance with environmental laws.

In September 2015, the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) issued a Letter of Support to the project. Also, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved the upfront tariff for the project. The project would cost an estimated US$600 million and financial close was expected by the first quarter of 2016 according to Siddiqsons Energy CEO A Rahim Rafi.

In February 2016, Siddiqsons signed a construction contract with Harbin Electric to build the plant. Construction was at that time scheduled to begin in July 2016, and would be completed Q1 2019.

In July 2016, the government banned private investment in power projects based on imported fuel. In November 2016, Dawn reported that sponsor Siddiqsons Energy Limited (SEL) was compelled to convert the project to local Thar lignite coal if it wanted to continue with it and bring foreign financing. The negotiations led to an agreement on extending the financial close deadline until August 2017. It was now planned for June 2020.

In January 2017, the government approved the transmission plan for the plant.

In August 2017, SEL said it planned to relocate its coal plant to Thar Block-II from Port Qasim to curtail transportation cost. A document citing a transportation study undertaken pursuant to the requirements of the local coal tariff said transporting one million tonnes of coal each year from Thar to Port Qasim was “not only impractical and wasteful, but also hazardous.” The change in location from Port Qasim to Thar would reduce the plant's capacity from 350 megawatts to 330 megawatts. SEL filed an application seeking a new generation licence for a coal plant at Thar Block II after the power regulator directed the company to seek a fresh generation license for the new site. SEL obtained a firm commitment for the allocation of coal from the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (see Thar Mine).

In January 2018, the tariff for the proposal was approved, but the revised generation license application was still under review. A generation license for the project was issued on August 8, 2018.

In May 2018, Engro Corporation announced it would invest $21.3 million in the project.

A December 17, 2018 updated list of "Upcoming IPPs" by the Ministry of Water & Power stated the plant would be commissioned in March 2022, and that financial close was "in progress". In February 2019, the Private Power and Infrastructure Board extended the project's deadline for financial close by one year.

A December 4, 2020 updated list of "Upcoming IPPs" by the Ministry of Water & Power stated the plant would be commissioned in July 2023. Financial close was still "in [p]rogress."

In January 2020, the transmission lines for the project were approved.

Project Details

• Sponsor: Siddiqsons Energy Limited (SEL)
• Parent company: Siddiqsons Group
• Location: Thar Block-II, southeast of Singhara in Thatta district, Sindh province, Pakistan
• Coordinates: 24.766667, 67.333333 (approximate)
• Status: Permitted
• Gross Capacity: 330 MW
• Type: Supercritical
• Projected in service: July 2023
• Coal Type: Lignite
• Coal Source: Thar Mine, Thar coal, Pakistan
• Source of financing: $21.3 million in equity from Engro Corporation

Articles and resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

• Pakistan and coal
• Port Qasim