Thar coal

Coal being desposited from a mine. Thar’s coal is believed to be high in moisture content, which makes it unsuitable for transport or easy use in power generation.

THE public-private partnership inked by the Sindh government to exploit Thar’s coal resources for power generation could be a watershed event in Pakistan’s painful history of power-sector woes. Poor planning over the decades has meant that whenever the country has experienced a spurt in economic growth, the power sector’s deficiencies have invariably crimped that growth. To forestall another boom-and-bust cycle now is the time to plan for the future, and Thar’s coal could hold the key to energy security in the years and decades ahead.

It is by no means a sure bet; a feasibility study will be concluded in early 2011 and depending on a positive result, the first megawatt of power from the project will flow somewhere in early 2016, if all goes according to plan. There are several technical hurdles to overcome. Thar’s coal is believed to be high in moisture content, which makes it unsuitable for transport or easy use in power generation. Then there is the issue of acquiring adequate water to run a power plant, and overcoming the inter- and intra-provincial water disputes that will inevitably ensue. And finally, any new power plant in Thar will have to be connected to the national grid at great cost and effort.

Perhaps more than the technical problems though, politics and funding hang heavy on the Thar power project. For one, disputes between the centre and Sindh over who has the ultimate say on Thar’s coal and its use for power generation could yet scuttle the project. Additionally, there is the question about how exactly power projects in Thar will be financed. Domestic banks are wary of additional exposure to the power sector given its recent troubles, while Pakistan’s poor standing in the international financial market could render the project prohibitively expensive to finance. Clearly, we must do more to put our overall economy in order to make credit cheaper. And from an environmental and local point of view, it must be ensured that clean-coal technology is employed and that the people of the area benefit directly and fairly from the exploitation of Thar’s coal resources.