Gwadar power station

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Gwadar power station is a proposed 300-megawatt (MW) coal plant in Balochistan province, Pakistan.

Location

The map below shows the location of the proposed Gwadar Port, the proposed location of the plant, in Gwadar district, Balochistan province.

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Background

According to a December 2014 overview of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan Today, "Gwadar Coal Power Project 300 megawatts" is listed among the "significant energy projects" totaling 10,400 MW that are being installed. However, the Gwadar project does not appear in the list published in April 2015 of the 51 MoU's signed under the agreement. A November 2014 Business Recorder report indicated that Chinese officials "had not given a positive response" to the Gwadar project. The power station is part of the Gwadar Port project, a planned coal terminal linking China and Pakistan.

After a meeting with Chinese investors in January 2016, PM Sharif reiterated the government's support of the Gwadar power station project, along with many others included in CPEC. Concrete details on the project have not yet been announced, however.

In April 2016, "official sources" said that the government was "all set to shelve" the plan for the coal plant and instead build a series of RLNG-based 100 MW plants. According to a Planning Commission official, the final decision would be taken by the Ministry of Water and Power and Gawadar Development Authority. In May 2016, the federal planning minister criticized the federal water & power ministry for proposing a coal power plant at the site, arguing that three 100-MW oil- or gas-fired power plants should be built instead of a coal plant, in order to limit pollution.

However, in June 2016 the federal government allocated Rs 20 million ($200,000) for a pre-feasibility study of the Gwadar coal plant.

In March 2017, Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee awarded the project's contract to the China Communi­cation Construction Group (CCCC), a Chinese state-owned firm, without bidding. In May 2017, Pakistan's Private Power and Infrastructure Board issued a letter of intent to CCCC. CCCC's license is under review by the Pakistan government. The total cost for the project is approximated $492.94 million, which is expected to be financed in a debt to equity ratio of 75:25. The CCCC is the main sponsor of the project and will hold 75.5 percent equity in the project, while the remaining 24.5 percent equity will be invested by Tianjin Energy Investment Group Company Limited. The subsidiary that would build the plant is called CIHC Pak Power Company Limited (CPPCL) (CIHC stands for CCCC Industrial Investment Holding Company).

In June 2018, the provincial government, under pressure from the federal government, announced that it would expedite the approval and land acquisition process for the project, and that the project "would enter implementation stage soon." In December 2018, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority set a tariff for electricity produced by the plant. Provincial regulatory approval was still ongoing at that time. The provincial government of Balochistan had apparently expressed concerns about the plant's effects on pollution, and on Pakistan's commitments in the Paris Agreement; it said that its concerns had gone unanswered by CPPCL, the project's sponsor.

In February 2019, CPPCL rejected the government's proposed tariff, saying that the government had unilaterally reduced return on equity on the project from 17% to 14%. As of May 2019, negotiations over the plant's tariff were ongoing. In September 2019, NEPRA pledged to soon resolve all pending tariff issues on the project.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the plant was held on November 4, 2019. According to the Pakistan Ministry of Energy (updated December 12, 2019), financial close for the plant is in progress.

Website

• 300MW Imported Coal Based Power Project At Gwadar, Pakistan, CPEC-Energy Priority Projects

Project Details

• Sponsor: CIHC Pak Power Company Limited (CPPCL)
• Parent company: China Communi­cation Construction Group (75.5%), Tianjin Energy Investment Group (24.5%)
• Location: Gwadar district, Balochistan province, Pakistan
• Coordinates: 25.1079845, 62.3466396 (approximate)
• Status: Pre-permit development
• Capacity: 300 MW (Units 1 & 2: 150 MW)
• Type: Subcritical
• Projected in service: 2022
• Coal Type:
• Coal Source: Imported (through proposed coal jetty at Gwadar Port)
• Source of financing:

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