ISLAMABAD, Aug. 26 (ABC): The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) connected the fourth 330MWs mine-mouth power plant built under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative at Thar coal Block II with the national grid.
“We successfully provided back feed supply/seller’s interconnection facility for Thal Nova power plant through 500kV Thal Nova-Matiari transmission line,” NTDC said according to a report published by Gwadar Pro on Friday.
The back feed supply energized the power plant for testing its electrical equipment, the statement added. After completion of the testing, the power plant will start contributing cheaper electricity to the national grid, NTDC said.
Thal Nova is one of the four 330MWs mine-mouth power plants installed at Thar Block II under CPEC. Engro Powergen Thar is already producing 660MWs electricity from its 2*330MWs power plants since 2019 while the 330MWs Thar Energy Ltd. started power generation recently.
The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) will supply coal to the Thal Nova power plant together with the other three power plants. China Machinery Engineering Corp. (CMEC) is the EPC contractor and minority shareholder of the project. The power plant will utilize 1.9 million tons of coal to generate 2.24 billion units of electricity per annum. The project has been financed by Habib Bank as well as Chinese banks.
NTDC further said that it has connected all five power plants at Thar coal Block I and Block II with the national grid to evacuate cheaper electricity.