The federal government is poised to secure extensive macroeconomic relief, with projected savings reaching 3.239 billion dollars over the next 26 years, by completely converting the Jamshoro Unit-01 power plant from imported fuel to 100 percent indigenous Thar lignite. This major strategic shift includes an estimated 2.113 billion dollars in direct foreign currency savings, providing a substantial cushion for the national balance of payments. The financial and structural validation of this initiative was established through a comprehensive Bankable Feasibility Study formally presented to the Federal Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari.
The analytical study, jointly compiled by the internationally renowned Dornier Group acting as the lead technical consultant alongside EY Parthenon, concluded that the massive fuel substitution is technically viable, economically compelling, and environmentally manageable. According to the official documentation, the project demonstrates an exceptional cost-benefit ratio of 1.8x, remaining highly favorable across all tested stress and sensitivity scenarios. The total cumulative net benefits over the plant’s 26-year operational lifecycle encompass 1.720 billion dollars in direct advantages to the domestic power sector—comprising 1.051 billion dollars in direct power generation cost reductions and 669 million dollars in collateral Thar mine expansion benefits—alongside 1.519 billion dollars in state savings derived from reduced interest outlays on foreign borrowings.
Financially, the capital expenditure required to execute the brownfield engineering modifications is estimated at 86.2 million dollars, with the aggregate project cost calculated at 116.6 million dollars. This structural transformation flows directly from the Prime Minister’s Power Sector Reform Plan and has advanced with the active collaboration of key power sector stakeholders, including K-Electric, Jamshoro Power Company Limited, and the Private Power and Infrastructure Board. To monitor and accelerate the complex project, a high-level steering committee convened 38 dedicated working sessions, 15 of which were personally chaired by the power minister to ensure rapid administrative progress.
Technologically, the feasibility study confirms that Jamshoro Unit-01—which operates as Pakistan’s premier ultra-supercritical power facility—can safely burn 100 percent Thar lignite through targeted, non-disruptive engineering reconfigurations. This precise approach effectively bypasses the requirement for a highly expensive, large-scale boiler retrofit, thereby preserving the structural integrity and financial value of the pre-existing state asset. Crucially, the transformation is structured strictly as a brownfield modification focused entirely on fuel indigenization, ensuring that no new coal-fired generation capacity is added to the national energy grid.
Beyond the immediate fiscal and balance-of-payment advantages, the indigenization model introduces powerful socioeconomic co-benefits for the regional economy. Transitioning the mega-facility to local fuel will directly catalyze the expansion of mining blocks in Tharparkar, generating significant employment opportunities and accelerating infrastructural development in one of the country’s most underserved geographical regions. By permanently eliminating reliance on imported coal commodities, the state moves decisively to insulate its power sector from volatile international price spikes, foreign exchange vulnerabilities, and complex global supply chain disruptions.
With the definitive Bankable Feasibility Study formally submitted, the Ministry of Energy will immediately transition the project into the implementation readiness phase. The immediate subsequent administrative steps involve securing final high-level policy approvals and advancing through critical lender-consent workstreams to realign existing development loans. Concurrently, the ministry will coordinate to attain necessary regulatory clearances from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, the Thar Coal Energy Board, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. This transition phase will also see the launch of basic design tender verifications, encompassing complex computational fluid dynamics modeling, specialized fuel mill testing, flue-gas desulfurization modifications, electrostatic precipitator re-engineering, and exhaustive hazard and operability studies.
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