China and Pakistan in power plant collaboration

APTMA Punjab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Machinery Engineering Co. (CMEC), a Chinese company, for the installation of a 330 MW coal-fired power plant.

Chairman of APTMA, S M Tanveer, and Vice President of CMEC, Li Jingkai, signed the MoU on Wednesday, 4 June.

Pakistan is in dour need of power, often facing acute power shortfalls. The country is also facing a crisis in its textiles industry because of the lack of power.

The plant will be installed in the Patohar/Salt Range region in the Punjab region of Pakistan.

APTMA has also agreed to execute power purchase agreements (PPAs) with CMEC.

CMEC will supply electricity on a continuous basis as per details to be set out in the PPAs through wheeling.

Punjab coal power

The APTMA–CMEC power plant is the latest in a number of power plants built in the Punjab to combat the region’s lack of power.

On 30 May, Pakistani prime minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, performed the ground breaking at the site of a 1320 MW power plant.

The project, comprising two units of 660 MW each, will be operational in two years time and start adding electricity to the national grid by 2016.

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/05062014/china_and_pakistan_in_coal_power_plant_collaboration_941/