Coal-fired power plant under CPEC starts operations in southern Pakistan

LAHORE – A coal-fired power plant built under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Thar Desert of Sindh has started its commercial operations.

The plant, with a total installed capacity of 1,320 megawatts, is a part of Thar Coal Block-I Coal Electricity Integration project. It would meet the energy demand of nearly 4 million households in Pakistan.  

Meng Donghai, the head of the project, told China’s official news agency Xinhua that the power plant will contribute to reducing energy costs, improving energy structure, alleviating the crisis in energy imports, and strengthening Pakistan's energy security.

The Thar Coal Block-I Coal Electricity Integration project launched construction in 2019. It included an open-pit coal mine and a coal-based power station with two separate 660-megawatt high-parameter supercritical thermal power generating units.

The multi-billion dollar project CPEC was launched in 2013 to linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through a corridor.