The Sahiwal Coal Power Project is a coal power plant with an installed capacity of 1320 MW. It consists of two 660 MW plants for a combined capacity of 1,320 MW and is Pakistan’s first supercritical coal power plant. The project preceded the announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), since the symbolic ground breaking for the project took already place in May 2014 but is now considered to be part of the Belt and Road Initiative and one of the early harvest projects of CPEC. It was the first CPEC project to be completed.

 

Project Information

Project name
Sahiwal Coal Power Project

Type
Energy 

Location
Sahiwal, Punjab Province, Pakistan

BRI Corridor
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – later included

Current Status
On July 3rd 2017 the Sahiwal Coal Power Project commenced full operations with the inauguration ceremony of the second 660 MW unit. The first unit was inaugurated in late May 2018.

Start of Construction
July 31, 2015

Chinese Involvement
Financing, Operation

Projected Total Project Costs
USD 1.8 billion

Bidding Process
The Government of Punjab invited proposals through an Expression of Interest published in various newspaper on January 25, 2014. Subsequently, through a competitive bidding process the sponsors were awarded the Letter of Intent to set up the Project. The sponsors complied with the requirements of Letter of Intent and conducted the Feasibility Study including Environmental Impact Assessment Study.

Capacity
The Sahiwal Coal Power Plant has an installed capacity of 1320 MW. It consists of two 660 MW plants for a combined capacity of 1,320 MW and is Pakistan’s first supercritical coal power plant. It is expected to satisfy the electricity demand of 10 million people and to fill a quarter of the power deficit in Pakistan. An estimated 4.48 million tons of coal will be required annually, most of the coal is sourced from Indonesia and South Africa.

Electricity Pricing
The Government of Pakistan purchases electricity at a tariff of 8.3601 US Cents/kWh.

Operator
Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (Pakistan) Energy (Private) Limited is a private company and was founded by China Huaneng Group Corporation – one of China’s leading state-owned electricity companies – and Shandong Ruyi Group – a textile company. China Huaneng Group Corporation holds 51% of the shares, while Shandong Ruyi Group holds 49%. The project was built on a build, operate, transfer basis in which the plant’s ownership will be transferred to the Government of Punjab after 30 years of operation.

Financing
In the Application for a Generation License of Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (Pakistan) Limited both the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Export – Import Bank of China confirmed their interest of financing up to 85% of the contract price for the power plant project. In the end ICBC is financing around 80% of the project while the rest was provided by the investory of Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (Pakistan) Energy (Private) Limited. Financial closure was achieved in December 2015. The 690 hectares of land was provided for free by the Government of Punjab.

Constructors
The power plant is the first overseas large-scale high-efficiency coal-fired power project built by Huaneng and Ruyi, under the Belt and Road Initiative. In order to sufficiently transport the imported coal from the Port Bin Qasim to the coal power plant the railway infrastructure was also extended. 800 railroad freight cars were ordered from Jinan Railway Vehicle Equipment Company, a subsidiary of CRRC Corporation Limited, for USD 37 million.

Environment
The plant includes an air quality monitoring system (Flue Gas Desulfurization), and an electrostatic precipitator in order to reduce ash and sulfur emissions from the plant. It requires 60,000 cubic meters of water daily for operation, with water being drawn from the Lower Bari Doab Canal. It has been reported that the operating company planted 30,000 saplings in the surrounding of the power plant in order to help improve the ecosystem of the area.

Additional Project Information

Raw materials for the plant, including cement, sand, wood, and other buildings materials were sourced from Pakistan, while the main equipment was coming from China. The project employed over 3,000 workers, including 1,000 from China. During construction security arrangements have been made for the Chinese and Pakistani workers. The coal plant created around 350 jobs of which 200 were fresh graduated engineers from Pakistani universities which have undergone training in China.

Further Information

CPEC – China Pakistan Economic Corridor
Application for a Generation License of Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Energy
Generation License of Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Energy