Imran Khan inaugurates 1,320 MW power plant under CPEC in Pakistan
The China Hub Power Plant is the first joint power project between Pakistan and China under the CPEC initiative
KARACHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has inaugurated a 1,320 Megawatt (MW) power plant in resources-rich Balochistan province that aims to generate low-cost electricity, an initiative under the ambitious US $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The China Hub Power Plant is the first joint power project between Pakistan and China under the CPEC initiative and would generate electricity utilising coal from local mines, the Business Recorder, a Pakistani financial daily, reported.
Inaugurating the plant, Khan said every kind of facility will be provided to assist the joint project.
“This is the first joint project under the CPEC and we want to see the pattern in future too. By utilising coal from local mines, the power plant will be able to generate low-cost electricity,” Khan said.
He said there are 185 tonnes of coal reserves in Pakistan.
“If we increase our productivity then we could rescue the country out of the current crisis,” he said.
Pakistan has been grappling with power crisis in the recent years. The difference between demand and supply which was 5,000MW in 2013, has reached up to the level of 6,000MW in 2018, according to reports.
Noting that Balochistan is full has rich mineral deposits, Khan also urged the authorities for more projects where the locally produced coals can be used.
The CPEC, launched in 2015, is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China’s resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.
The Pakistani government had approved the processing of 1,320 MW imported coal-based power project at Hub in November 2014.
Source: PTI
