Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: China has asked Pakistan to clear its energy projects bills; otherwise, it may face immediate closures, sources said on Monday.
The four power plants operating on Thar coal, namely, Thal Nova Power Thar(Pvt.) Limited (330 MW), Thar Energy Limited (300 MW), Engro Power Thar Limited (EPTL 660 MW), and Lucky Electric Power Co(660 MW) can be immediately shut down due to delayed payments.
Equivalent power capacities functioning on imported coal will cause an additional forex burden of 85 million dollars monthly on the economy with three times extra expensive power generation.
Port Qasim Electric Power (Pvt.) Co (PQEPC) is about to shut down its 2 units of 1320 Mega Watt after non-payment from Pakistan.
Coal-fired energy plants
While CPEC coal-fired power plants are facing issues in buying coal due to foreign exchange restraints. The capacity payments are also outstanding, which means the company would not get electricity payments.
Before the last Budget, the government approved the payments of 100 billion rupees to Chinese IPPs.
Now, the circular debt is estimated to be around 2.6 trillion rupees.
