Pakistani Energy Symposium Calls For Increased Use Of National Coal Reserves

[hatrack]

Oh, and it's lignite, in case you were wondering.

KARACHI: Pakistan needs political consensus and political will, it should utilise its indigenous resources of coal for power generation and in other projects for longer run rather than rely on short-term projects. This was the consensus of speakers presenting their views on the first day of a two-day international symposium and open house discussion on ‘Sindh Coal (Lignite) Mining Challenges and Success’ on Tuesday at a local hotel.

Affordability and profitability are the two main areas which should be put forward in any project in which coal is used. Pakistan must curb its dependence at present and start thinking its own which could be a very tough test but this will give the country strong foundation to envisage its future.

Siddique Sheikh of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: “We have been very late in realizing our mistakes and while emphasizing on the importance of the symposium he said we did all these efforts 20 years back. These symposiums should have been organized in 1987 to avoid this current energy crisis.” More and more companies come to Pakistan with their plans to use the coal reserves of Sindh using their technologies and professional skills. He said “We go on to ruminate about their pattern which is not well in any case.”

However, the inability of the government agencies to come to consensus on the issue of determination of the upfront tariff for the power produced by utilization of vast coal reserves remains the biggest hurdle, experts opined. Countries in the world that use coal to generate electricity exploit their own reserves of coal and this is one of the reasons of their success. The government of Sindh should provide proper water supply, roads and security to investors to increase investment.

EDIT

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=77946