Balloki Power Plant

The Balloki Power Plant is a 1,223 MW natural gas power plant recently completed in mid 2018 near Phool Nagar, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Groundbreaking was commenced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 11, 2015, and construction is scheduled for completion by December 2017.[2] The project will utilize regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) for fuel, with diesel as an alternate backup. A 40 kilometer long transmission line with a capacity of 500 kilovolts will also be constructed between the new plant and a grid station in southern Lahore.[3]

Balloki Power Plant
Official nameBalloki Power Plant
CountryPakistan
LocationBalloki, Punjab
Coordinates31.1887°N 73.8895°E / 31.1887; 73.8895
StatusCompleted
Construction beganNovember 2015
Commission date2018
Construction cost$763.42 million[1]
Owner(s)National Power Parks Management Company Pvt. Ltd
(EPC: Harbin Electric International Company Limited)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelLiquefied natural gas
Power generation
Nameplate capacity1,223 MW
External links
Websitenppmcl.com

Bidding was open to international firms for the 82 billion rupee project.[4] China's Harbin Electric Company was announced as the lowest evaluated bidder for the project on October 2, 2015, having offered a levellised electricity cost of 7.973 cents per unit, outbidding the Turkish conglomerate Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş. and GE Consortium which both stood in second with 8.185 cents per unit tariff, followed by China Machinery Eng Co (CMEC) & SEFC at 8.304 cents, and Hyundai Engineering at 8.332 cents per unit.[5]

Project Financing

Plans for the project call for private sector investment to construct the plant, with the private company then selling electricity to the government of Pakistan at pre-negotiated rates. It is not financed under CPEC projects. As the project is to be constructed largely by the private sector, financing loans for the project do not fall under the concessionary loan agreement which finances CPEC projects, but it will still qualify for subsidized loans with an interest rate of 5% which are to be dispersed by the Exim Bank of China.[6] For comparison, loans for previous Pakistani infrastructure projects financed by the World Bank carried an interest rate between 5% and 8.5%,[2] while interest rates on market loans approach 12%.[4]

Project Troubles

Along with its sister Bhikki plant, the site faces issues with power generation.[7] The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) was given notice of zero power generation by the plants and issued investigations.[8] As of November 2019, the current PM of Pakistan Imran Khan wishes to privatize the Balloki power plant along with a few others.[9]

See Also

References
  1. "LNG power plants: CDWP clears two projects at revised cost of Rs191b". The Express Tribune. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016. The plant in Kasur district’s Balloki village would cost Rs93 billion and the one in Jhang district’s Haveli Bahadur Shah town would need Rs98.3 billion.
  2. "IBRD Statement of Loans - Latest Available Snapshot - World Bank Group Finances". finances.worldbank.org.
  3. "Ecnec approves transmission line for Balloki power plant". www.thenews.com.pk.
  4. "Lending interest rate (%) - Data". data.worldbank.org.
  5. "Chinese-led consortium termed lowest bidder for power project". Dawm. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  6. APP (11 November 2015). "PM performs groundbreaking of 1,223MW plant".
  7. Ahmadani, Ahmad. "Punjab's 3600 mw RLNG-run power plants fail to produce required electricity". Profit Today Pakistan. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  8. "CJP takes notice of zero power generation by Punjab govt's power plants | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  9. "PM orders privatisation of state-owned entities". Daily Times. 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
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