Lakhra power station
{{#badges:CoalSwarm|Navbar-Pakistancoal}}Lakhra power station is a 150-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Lakhra, Pakistan. Until 2016 it was the only coal-fired power plant in Pakistan. Since July 2017 it has been shut down.
Several additions to the power station have been proposed, but none have materialized.
Contents
Location
The map below shows the Lakhra power station in Lakhra, near Budhapur, Sindh.
Background
The Lakhra power station is a 3 x 50 MW subcritical coal-fired power station in Lakhra, put into operation in 1995-6. It is fueled by the Lakhra coal mines, 25 kilometers away. In 2015 the power station was reportedly running at 20 MW capacity.[1] Since a fire in July 2017 it has been shut down completely.[2]
In October 2018, a provincial government official announced a plan for the plant to be privatized and rehabilitated by its new owner. According to Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited, $33 million would be needed to rehabilitate the plant. The politician said that several foreign companies had expressed interest in buying the plant.[3]
Proposed additions
Several additions have been proposed at or near the site of the existing power station, using coal from the Lakhra coal mines. However none have progressed. Proposals include:[1]
Wapda/Gencos had proposed setting up three additional power generating units of 50 MW each at the power station, later revised to two mine-mouth units of 300 MW each. The entire project was later shelved to encourage private investment.
The Private Power and Infrastructure Board also solicited Fateh Textile Group in Hyderabad for development of a 200 MW integrated mining and power project at Lakhra, but the sponsors opted to mining and selling the coal instead on the open market.
Habibullah Energy, which has held the lease on Lakhra coalfields for many years, also planned to develop a 150 MW mine-mouth power project at Lakhra, but it too was later cancelled.
In 2013 the government, through Gencos, proposed two 660 MW power projects using Lakhra coal. The detailed feasibility for the first unit was prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). However, the project was shelved in February 2014 in favor of the Gadani Power Park. The Japanese pushed the project again in 2016, and again Pakistan demurred, focusing instead on CEPC projects.[4]
Expansion Project Details
- Sponsor: Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited (GENCO-IV)
- Parent company:
- Location: Lakhra, near Budhapur, Sindh, Pakistan
- Coordinates: 25.705732830884, 68.286466598511 (exact)
- Status: Cancelled
- Capacity: 150 - 1320 MW
- Type:
- Projected in service:
- Coal Type: Lignite
- Coal Source: Lakhra coal mines, 25 km from Lakhra Power Station
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lakhra coal for power generation," Dawn, Mar 30, 2015
- ↑ 150MW Lakhra power plant shuts after major fire, Dawn, 21 July 2017.
- ↑ Defunct Lakhra power plant to be rehabilitated with private investment, Express Tribune, 27 Aug. 2018.
- ↑ Pakistan likely to turn down Japan’s offer to finance new Lakhra power plant, Express Tribune, 30 July 2016.
