Thar coal to unleash new era of national development
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Coal power generation to reduce cost, improve energy mix
The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Tuesday lauded the government’s policy of utilising natural resources to quell energy crisis.
The policy of the incumbent government will improve energy mix tilted in favour of imported furnace oil and depleting natural gas while ensuring provision of economical electricity generated through Thar coal, it said.
Inauguration of Thar coal project is a great achievement of the government as well as opposition which indicate that political leadership has decided to shun differences for the greater cause of national development, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President of PEW.
The recent developments indicate that political leaders have laid to rest the habit of opposition for the sake of opposition which if continued will make Pakistan a developed country in next few years, he said.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that dependence on imported fuel and natural gas has left economy limping as successive governments continued to brush aside massive coal reserves since last 23 years.
He said that government should find investors for remaining eight blocks in Thar, offer incentives and provide all necessary finances as luring foreign investors or seeking help from international lenders would take some time.
Exploitation of indigenous coal reserves would settle issues like local and foreign debt, circular debt and load shedding to make Pakistan an energy exporting country, he noted.
Dr. Mughal said that the elements raising concerns about environmental pollution should know that coal has the biggest share of 41 per cent in the global electricity output while US is generating 45 per cent of its power from coal.
The share of gas in worldwide power generation stands at 21 per cent, water reservoirs 16 pc, nuclear 13 pc, fossil fuel 5 pc and renewables 3 pc, he informed.
