Sindh to use carbon gas capture device By Muzaffar Qureshi
KARACHI: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) of the federal government has approved Rs8 billion 100MW power plant to be set up at Thar in Block 5 on coal gas to be extracted through underground coal gasification (UCG) scheme.
Secretary of Mines Aijaz Ali Khan, who attended the meeting in Islamabad, told Dawn on Saturday that the project would now be sent to Ecnec for approval. The underground coal gasification scheme is being supervised by nuclear scientist Dr Samar Mubarkmand.
The project would be based on latest technology known as integrated gasification combined cycle, which would have a device to capture carbon dioxide and store it under the ground.
The secretary said the project would fulfill all international standards designed to check carbon emissions entering into the environment. The latest technology for capturing and storing carbon gas is being used in some coal-based power plants in the world.
Earlier, the World Bank had withdrawn from a power project based on Thar coal in Block 1 due to objections on carbon emissions in line with the world standards. The World Bank had agreed to assist in a Thar Coal power project through technical assistance for Block 1. An amount of $1.777 million had been released as the project preparation facility.
The government has now decided to invite international bids for the project. A few foreign investors have already shown interest in the power project.
The introduction of carbon dioxide capture and storage technology, applied by the Sindh government, would remove objections of world bodies about carbon emissions from mining and gasification of coal in Thar.
Logistics for the UCG have been completed and the Sindh government has appointed Dr Shabir as head of the project to be managed by a team of engineers and scientists. The work on the site is due to start soon. The team will be guided by Dr Samar Mubarakmand.
The total potential of Thar is estimated at 175 billion tons of lignite coal. Several projects are being implemented on the six explored blocks by various international companies.
These include Engro Pakistan which has signed a joint venture with the Sindh government for setting up a power plant.
The joint venture for mining would be 60 per cent Engro and 40 per cent Sindh government and would lead to a 600-1000MW power generation plants. The expected project completion is set at 2015-16.
M/s Cougar Energy UK, a subsidiary of Cougar Energy Australia, is exploiting Block 3 for underground coal gasification which would lead to a 400MW power plant.
Another UK firm Oracle Coal Fields plans to develop 1.4 billion tons Block 6 coal project integrating the mine with the construction of a mine-mouth power plant.
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