Good find Sideways , the thar project is getting a fair bit of attention at the moment; the ground-breaking ceremony of coal mining at Thar is suppose to be held tomorrow
The Thar project has kicked start Pakistan's much-awaited step to convert furnace oil based power plants into coal combustion giving a green signal to three Independent Power Producers for taking initiative of cutting cost of electricity from the national grid.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved financing of $900 million for 1320MW Jamshoro power project for its conversation to coal in mid december 2013; Before approving the loan , ADB agreed to by Pakistan , will use 80% of imported bituminous coal and 20% of domestic lignite from Thar..
Yesterday Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said that Thar Coal Project will usher in a new era of energy security for the country and prosperity of its people.
"Pakistan urgently needs to utilize natural resources it has been blessed with, and it is one of the top most priorities of the government" he said chairing a meeting on Thar Coal Project held here at the Prime Minister House.
Stage 1 which he says will be completed within his tenure as prime minister will be to develop a coal mine in Thar with a production capacity of 6.5 million tons per year, and construct a 660 MW Power Plant, in the first Phase (by 2017) while in the second phase another 660 MW power plant will be in place by 2019. Thar has been divided into 12 blocks, out of which 4 blocks have been awarded to different investors.
The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) is planning to initiate mining activity at Thar coal by the mid of 2014 and to generate power based on Thar Coal by 2017-18, coal production will happen around the same time , Similarly, the other lease holders Sino Sindh Resources Limited and Oracle Coalfields Pvt Ltd have plans to initiate mining activity in Block-I and VI during 2014 a report stated on 10th Jan 2014.
Pakistan actually held its “1st International Coal Conference”, in November at the university’s main campus in Jamshoro, The experts discussed ways of how to best exploit Thar coal reserves and host of issues like coal mining, coal geology, characterisation and upgrading, emission and control, coal utilisation and clean technology.
***Thar coalfield water scenario:***
There is a chronic water shortage; The flagship Sindh/Engro project in block II of Thar coalfield, hinges on the availability of 300 cusecs (cubic feet per second) water from the Indus River System for operation of the Coal Fired Power Plant....there's also 9 other blocks!! More water!! 3000 cusecs !
"Assuming that somehow this additional 3000 cusecs of water does become available, the question then is, how do we get it to the coalfield? Due to topographic constraints, conventional gravity driven channel flow of water to the coal project is not possible, costly upslope pumping would be required." This would require massive investment
The other water source is a canal system, but due to siltation of the Canals and degradation of the nearly 80 year old regulatory system, additional water carrying capacity of the entire Nara Canal command stands significantly impaired. To meet agriculture demands these canals are forced to carry water beyond their design capacities and will not be able to carry an additional 3000 cusecs of water for Thar coal without a total overhaul and remodeling of their entire regulatory systems
"This will be a massive undertaking costing Billions of Dollars and at least 20 years. Does the Govt of Sindh have these financial resources and the luxury to wait another 20 years for power generation from Thar Coal?"
"Apparently bringing Indus River water into Thar Desert for use in the power plants is neither economically nor practically viable. However a perfectly viable, technically superior alternative is available at a fraction of the above costs! This would utilize the available underground water in Thar and/or recover excess moisture from the coal itself and use it for power plant operations."
It all appears to be happening and happening now in India and starting up in Pakistan where they start digging now
(20min delay)