A Pakistan government agency last week approved enabling works for the 6,600 MW, coal-fired Pakistan Power Park Project at Gadani on the Arabian Sea.
The $1.46bn (Rs144.6 billion) scheme will see ten 660 MW coal-fired power stations built, 85% funded by a loan from China.
The enabling works include a coal supply system, jetty head, cooling water facilities and several other installations, Pakistan’s Express Tribune reported.
Pakistan suffers from severe power shortages. In May, water and power minister Khawaja Asif said that the country faced a 3,200 MW gap every day, resulting into eight to ten hours of outages.
Of the ten new plants at Gadani, located on the coast near Karachi, Chinese entities will build and operate six, while two are being funded and built by Arab National Construction (ANC) Holding of Dubai. The government of Pakistan is funding one and one is being built by Turkey’s Ciner Group.
The enabling works were approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) ahead of meetings in Beijing next month at which power purchasing agreements between Pakistan and China are expected to be signed. These agreements would set out the terms of Pakistan’s buying power from Chinese-operated plants in Gadani.
The two countries are also collaborating on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a rail, road, pipeline and cable link from western China down to Gwadar, a strategic port on the Arabian Sea.
