The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $900m loan for a new 600MW supercritical coal power generation unit in Pakistan.
In addition to providing loan, which includes $870m from ordinary capital resources and $30m from its Asian Development Fund, ADB will also provide a five-year operation and maintenance support following the plant’s completion.
To be developed at an existing power plant in the town of Jamshoro in the Sindh province, around 150km east of Karachi, the plant is also being co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank with $150m, while the Pakistan Government is providing counterpart funds of $450m.
To be operational by December 2018, the plant will feature emission control equipment to supply reliable, cost-effective electricity to many energy-starved households and businesses, releasing cleaner emissions than the existing heavy fuel oil-fired generators and subcritical boiler technology.
The Jamshoro plant, which is claimed to be Pakistan’s first unit to use supercritical boiler technology, will help curb power deficit and replace power generation from small individual oil and diesel generators, curbing a further 503,000t of carbon dioxide annually.
The recycling of ash is also being implemented at the plant, which would further reduce around 115,000t of CO2 equivalent annually.
The plant will save approximately $535m a year on its fuel imports compared with oil fired generation, enabling low-cost generation of electricity.
The new plant development is a part of the government’s efforts to reduce electricity tariffs and resolve energy crisis in the country.
The Government of Pakistan is also pursuing other options including large hydropower plants, renewable energy, energy efficiency, increasing domestic gas production and importing electricity and natural gas to curb energy deficit in the country.
Image: The ADB-funded Jamshoro plant will use state-of-the-art emission control equipment resulting in cleaner emissions than existing generators. Photo: courtesy of Asian Development Bank.
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