CPHGC Unit 2 synchronised with national grid

KARACHI: The 660MW Unit 2 of the China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd 2x660MW coal-fired power plant was successfully synchronised with the national grid on May 28, 2019 as per the schedule, a statement said on Wednesday.

The synchronisation, an important milestone towards the commercial operations of the power plant, comes exactly five months to the day when the Unit 1 of the project was synchronised, on December 28, 2018, it added.

Both the units of CPHGC are now providing electricity to the Pakistan national grid on pre-commissioning trial basis.

Synchronisation of Unit 2 was achieved within the agreed technical parameters, laying the foundation for future commercial operations of the project, which is planned to start in August 2019.

Zhao Yonggang, CEO of China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd congratulated the CPHGC team and said the achievement of synchronisation of Unit 2 and other ‘one-time’ milestones was the result of the hard work of Pakistani and Chinese employees who are working in harmony to bring success to the project.

“China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd is a priority project under the China Pakistan

Economic Corridor and is also the first overseas thermal power project developed by SPIC under the Belt & Road Initiative,” Yonggang said.

Located in Hub, Balochistan, the CPHGC project is a joint venture company between CPIH (the Chinese state-owned company) that owns 74 percent and HUBCO that owns 26 percent.

Despite much higher cost, the project has adopted supercritical technology for environment protection. This technology requires reduced coal consumption and has lower carbon emissions; thus, improving its energy-conserving and environment protecting features.

The $2 billion project includes a power plant and a dedicated coal jetty. During commercial operations, the project will provide 9 billion kWh electricity to the national grid every year, which will meet the electricity needs of four million households in Pakistan.

The CPHGC 2x660MW coal-fired power project officially had its ground breaking on March 21, 2017 and it is on track to be commercially operational in August 2019 that will help alleviate a substantial part of electricity shortage in Pakistan and promote local social and economic developments.