The Rahim Yar Khan Power Project is a proposed 1,320MW imported coal power plant project consisting of two 600MW units. The project predates the Belt and Road Initiative but was included in the list of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in 2016. After concerns regarding a surplus of power were raised the project was removed from the CPEC list together with other coal-based power plant projects, such as the Muzaffargarh project.
Project Information
Project name
Rahim Yar Khan Power Plant
Type
Energy 
Location
Rahim Yar Khan District, Punjab Province, Pakistan
BRI Corridor
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Current Status
The project was canceled in January 2019, after a Pakistani delegation led by Minister for Planning and Development, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar “proposed to remove the Rahim Yar Khan imported fuel power plant from the CPEC list, in order to provide structure optimization space for the subsequent power market of Pakistan” in December 2018. Already earlier concerns regarding the feasibility and necessity of the Rahim Yar Khan Power Plant were raised pointing to an already contracted surplus generation capacity.
Start of Construction
Not applicable
Chinese Involvement
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
Projected Total Project Costs
Operator
In July 2017 a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Punjab government and China’s Huaneng Shandong Power Generation Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China Huaneng Group, for the development of the Rahim Yar Khan project.
Financing
The project was going to be financed through Independent Power Producer (IPP) and was supposed to be repaid over a period of 25 years.
Environment
The Rahim Yar Khan Power Plant was going to be a supercritical coal plant running on imported coal.