Category: Highlights

KARACHI — As tensions grow between China and Australia, the superpower’s main coal supplier, work is being stepped up in Pakistan’s largest coalfield on a project conceived to feed local power plants, but which some experts believe might provide Beijing with an option for an alternative source of coal.  After months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some 500 employees of Shanghai Electric Power arrived in Pakistan earlier this month to work on the $1.9 billion Thar Block-I integrated coal mine and power project located in the country’s southeastern desert region of…

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ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday deferred approval of Rs132 billion plan for power evacuation from the Dasu hydropower project after a cost overrun of almost 46 per cent, but cleared four other development schemes having a total estimated cost of about Rs126bn. The meeting of the CDWP was presided over by the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman, Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan. The meeting also deferred approval of a $200 million World Bank-funded “Pakistan Goes Global” project and asked the authorities to address technical objections. Officials said the evacuation…

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The writer is a former member of the Energy Planning Commission and author of ‘Pakistan’s Energy Issues: Success and Challenges’. Recently an agreement has been signed between a section of IPPs and the government towards resolving the undue and high cost of generation charged by the IPPs. Two separate agreements have been made, one with Wind IPPs and the other with Furnace Oil IPPs (FOIPP). There has been a mixed reaction from experts/analysts. The most extensive agreement that has been made is with Wind IPPs and the most egregious and…

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (APP):Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar Wednesday said the country would start importing only Euro-5 standard petrol from September 1, aimed at providing quality fuel and tackling environmental issues. “Efficiency-wise, the Euro-5 petrol is far better than the existing Euro-II and will be available without any additional cost,” he said while sharing two-year performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government here at a news conference along with members of the federal cabinet. After December 31, he said only Euro-5 standard diesel would…

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ISLAMABAD: Experts see the Supreme Court’s decision in the gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) case as a major breakthrough that will help kick off work on the stalled North-South Gas Pipeline by the public utilities. The pipeline will pump imported gas from south to north to feed Punjab industries and will send positive signals to the companies planning to set up new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court directed the federal government to take all steps to commence the laying of North-South Gas Pipeline…

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