300MW imported coal based power plant at Gwader is likely to be replaced with solar plant as per the decision of the Power Division.
The project was inducted under the CPEC and got approved in back 2016, but it’s formal construction haven’t been started and now the government of Pakistan want to give the lead to China to install a solar power plant of the same capacity. Government decided not to install any new power plant functional on imported fuel.
As per officials, they have decided to discontinue the project but they have to take up the issue at several CPEC. CPEC have more importance and sensitivity that’s why the Power Division’s decision to replace the imported coal-based project at Gwadar with a solar plant.
Government aimed to continue to install more nuclear power plants and decided to abandon new power plants based on imported petroleum as it would add new capacity to electricity generation based on local fuel, such as Thar coal, wind, solar, and hydel. Solar power plant is likely to be replaced by government as Federal Minister for Power Division Khurram Dastgir Khan also hinted.
Government has decided to transmute existing imported coal-based power plants of 3,960MW, including the Port Qasim plant, Sahiwal power plant and China Hub plant, each having the capacity to generate 1,320MW of electricity, to local coal.
The imported fuel billed almost $20 billion in the first 11 months of the last fiscal 2021-22. The decision has been made to cut down the fuel import bill and reduce the dependency on imported fuel for generating power.
Investment and time is required to transmute three projects to local coal as boilers of the plants would need some specific changes for calibration with Thar coal.
6th meeting of The Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) for the CPEC held in Beijing in December 2016, in which they had decided that a 300MW imported coal-fired power project must be developed on a fast-track basis at Gwadar.
30 to 70 MW electricity imported by Pakistan from Iran under an agreement of 110MW. Pakistan have fluctuation sometimes due to demand in Iran.
Pakistan has made a new agreement of importing . Transmission line would be from Polan to Gawadar at the end of 2022 or might be in start of 2023.
Further government also have keen-eyed on laying it’s infrastructure in Balochistan and the NTDC which transmit 500kv from Makran coast to Gwadar
