The Express Tribune/25-06-2020

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) has approved the abandoning of the proposed 700-megawatt Datang coal-based power project of K-Electric. The power project had been designed to run on local coal, once it is commercially available. Sources told that in its letters written to the Ministry of Energy, the power utility had requested for a notification of the tariff approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on August 11, 2016 and November 7, 2018 in respect of Datang Pakistan Power Generation (Private) Limited. K-Electric said the delay in tariff notification was impacting the project’s commercial operation date and consequently the power demand-supply gap within the company’s service area. In addition to managing the demand-supply gap, the 700MW project was supposed to diversify K-Electric’s fuel mix and help move away from using furnace oil, which was significantly more expensive than imported coal, it said. Accordingly, the project would enable K-Electric to offer affordable power to consumers along with ensuring sizable fuel cost savings to the national exchequer.