Tawanai

THAR COAL – Sindh/Engro joint venture.
Although the Govt. of Sindh needs to be commended for its effort for creating a Private/Public sector partnership with Engro for Development of Thar Coal, however, serious technical, administrative and financial cost issues remain, which need to be clarified and addressed, in the public interest.
The key issue is, will this project really happen or will it will fizzle out like all other such projects that came before it. The Sindh/Engro project depends on (a) completion of a new feasibility study acceptable to Engro (b) Availability of 350 cusecs (cubic feet per second) water from the Indus River System for the operation of the Power Plant.
Firstly, what was logical reason for selection of block 2 of Thar coal field for the Sindh/Engro project, whereby new feasibility studies have to be undertaken which will take three more years and cost Millions of additional Dollars? Instead of selecting block 1, which has already been thoroughly studied at a cost of over 250 million already paid by the Govt, for which a very comprehensive report by Rheinbraun/RWE Power is on file with Govt. of Sindh since 2004.
This study of Block 1 of Thar coal field confirms proven reserves of 1 Billion tons, whereas only 180 Million tons of coal will be needed to operate a 1000 MW power plant for a duration of 30 years, the various coal seams start at around 450 feet depth and occur up to 600/650 feet, there are 3 ground water aquifers of which the base aquifer is significant and highly pressurized, the only viable option is Open Cast/open Pit Mining by dewatering these aquifers.
A state of the art mathematical model simulating Thar coal project area ground water conditions employing the “Finite volume method” has been used to formulate a dewatering plan for Block 1. This same modeling method has been successfully used in European open pit mines and predicts the amount of water to be pumped in order to make the mining operations safe and workable.
The following quality parameters also stand evaluated for block 1 of Thar field:
 Coal Quality Lignite
 Ash (avg) 7%
 Sulphur (avg) 1.4%
 Moisture (as received) 48%
 Heating Value (as received) 5140 Btu/Lb.
 Moisture (final) 12%
 Heating Value (dry) 10280 Btu/Lb
Important Civil and Geotechnical Engineering, Financial and other criteria needed to assess feasibility of an open pit mine and Power Plant for block 1 have already been established, including, identification of the geologic units, shear strengths, slope stability analysis, cut slope inclinations, stripping ratios, siting of inside and outside dumping areas, siting of Power Plant, siting the township, conceptual mine design, dewatering plan, waste water treatment, best types of equipment to use, power generation and distribution issues, a full financial analysis etc. have been established for Block 1 and a project for this block has been ready for final design and construction since 2004, and work can be started immediately.
Investment Capital Demand estimates for Mining and a 1000 MW Power Plant.
This huge difference needs to be explained in the public interest.
$1.5 Billion is a staggering amount to be paying extra and for what?
Estimated Capital Demand of Sindh/Engro for Block 2 $3.3 Billion.
Estimated Capital Demand for Block 1 $1.8 Billion.
Block 2 will cost $1.5 Billion extra, which is 83% higher than the Block 1
This huge cost difference needs to be understood in public interest.
Sindh/Engro project is dependent on being provided with 350 cusecs (Cubic feet per second) water from the Indus river irrigation system, for which the Govt. of Sindh has sanctioned 176 million Rupees for a feasibility study. Prequalification of Consultants has been advertised by the Dept. of Mines and Minerals under the World Bank Technical Assistance Program.
There is a chronic water shortage in Sindh, 350 cusecs is a sizable quantity of water, where is this water going to come from for the Sindh/Engro coal project?
The Coal project is located near Islamkot in the Thar Desert, which is outside the Sukkur Barrage Command Zone; the nearest source of Indus water is Jumrao Canal which is a branch of Nara Canal, which in turn draws its water from Sukkur Barrage. Due to siltation of the Canals and degradation of the 77 year old regulatory system, water carrying capacity of both the Nara Canal and Jumrao Canal stands diminished.
In order to meet agriculture demand these canals are forced to carry water beyond their current capacity. It will be very difficult if not next to impossible for either of these Canals to carry an additional 350 cusecs of water for Thar coal development without massive remodeling of both Canals and their regulatory systems. This will cost Billions and at least 10 years.
Islamkot is topographically located at a higher elevation than the canal system, conventional gravity channel flow of water to the coal project is not possible, the water (if it was even available) will have to be pumped upslope, the Capital and Operational costs will be prohibitive and with current electricity shortfalls in the country, where will the power for the pumps come from?
Govt of Sindh and the World Bank may spend 176 Million on this feasibility study, but no one should be under the illusion that 350 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of extra water will magically appear from the Indus river system and will be easily and economically transported to Islamkot to give us coal based power. This study will be a waste of time and money. Sponsors of this study should reconsider this commitment in view of the overall facts.
The real concern is that after all the money is spent on studies and 3 years of time lost, if water cannot be provided from the Indus river system or if Engro for any reason deems the project unfeasible, it will be back to square one for Thar Coal, minus a lot of money and time.
Development of block 1 of Thar field by this Sindh/Engro venture would have been ideal; it would have saved time and money. New feasibilities would not be required. Actual work could be started immediately. Perhaps it is not too late.
Bringing Indus River water for the Thar Power Plant appears neither economically nor practically viable. A technically superior and cost effective alternative would be to recover excess moisture from the coal and use that for plant operation. A closed circle cooling cycle Power Plant must be selected, this type of a plant doesn’t waste water but re-circulates and reuses the same water over and over and is considered ideal for arid environments where water is scarce. Thar coal quality is classified as lignite with high moisture content; this is not a liability but a huge practical asset given the scarcity of water in the desert.
Before being fed into the power plant boilers, Thar lignite coal @ 48% moisture will be made to pass through a drying plant whereby the moisture content will be reduced to 12% and the drying plant will condense and recover water as shown.
Drying plant Lignite coal input @ 48% Moisture 6.0 million tons/yr
Drying Plant Lignite coal output @ 12%Moisture 3.6 million tons/yr
Weight of Extracted water 2.4 million tons/yr
84% Water recovery = 2 Million Tons/yr or 285 tons/ hour
Based on 7,000 hours/year Power Plant operations the water consumption of the closed circle plant will be 1.8 million tons/ year or 257 tons/hour, water recovery of 285 tons/hour from coal exceeds the plant consumption requirements and therefore, no additional water will be needed.
Lignite Coal drying not only provides water for the power plant but improves boiler efficiency, the heating value of the dry coal doubles from 5120 BTU/lb to 10240 BTU/lb; Operation and maintenance costs are reduced because of lesser volumes of coal being handled.
Selection of a closed circle cooling cycle plant almost eliminates the need for large volumes of waste water disposal as the waste water is only 2% to 3% of what it would be with an open cycle plant.
This technical information has been available with all the departments in Sindh dealing with Thar coal, namely, Department of Mines and Minerals, Planning and Development Dept, Sindh Coal Authority, Dept: of Coal and Energy, Thar Coal Energy Board (TCEB) and so on.
Was this vital information for block 1 purposely withheld from the decision makers? Including the World Bank, If not, what was the justification for selecting block 2 for the Sindh/Engro project, at a significant additional cost to the nation, both in time and money. The public has a right to know.
With best of intentions and a sincere desire to streamline things, the Government created “Thar Coal Energy Board” (TCEB) to be the sole lead agency for dealing with all issues pertaining to Development of Thar Coal.
Government’s good intentions appear completely sabotaged and it is business as usual, with numerous departments of Sindh simultaneously dealing with Thar Coal issues, where the right hand sometimes doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Duplications upon duplications and ad-hoc decisions are causing huge financial losses and no uniform or coherent policy exists for Thar coal.
Thar Coal Energy Board (TCEB) appears neutralized, the $36 Million World Bank Technical Assistance program for Thar Coal is being managed by Dept of Mines and Minerals and not by TCEB as may have been the government’s original intent. Consultants for Rs. 176 million water studies will also be selected, overseen and controlled by Dept of Mines and Minerals and strangely, the project will be
executed by Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA). TCEB is nowhere in Sight and will have no control in the matter; this is ad-hocism at its best.
SIDA is experiencing its own crises, masses of employees are being fired, Managing Directors change every 3 to 4 months, their own World Bank funded $175 Million WSIP 1 project is 2 years behind schedule. Should SIDA be burdened with the additional responsibility of Thar Coal as well?
This is a very expensive, $3.3 Billion, complex, mega project; it needs to be taken seriously and cannot be successfully executed in an uncoordinated and ad-hoc manner by multiple Govt. departments. A course correction is required otherwise this whole exercise will most definitely fail, in which case the financial losses to the nation will be staggering and the invaluable Thar coal resource will remain where it has been for millions of years, buried below ground.
Zahoor A. Abbasi zabbasi@live.com
Sr. VP, Delta Engineering, San Diego Pakistan contact # 0331 246 9248
PS:
The writer is a USA based Civil and Geotechnical Engineer (Currently in Pakistan) who has worked in Thar Desert and is very familiar with the conditions affecting Thar coal. Open Pit mining is primarily a Geotechnical Engineering function. The intent of this article is not to criticize anyone but to educate and raise public awareness about a matter of great importance to this nation. The professional opinions offered herein are thoroughly researched and documented and are offered in good faith with intent to assist. I will defend these opinions in any debate, with anyone, at anytime and at any forum. In fact I look forward to this debate and challenge the decision makers to produce any expert for this purpose

that is the sindh luckly provence of sind this agreement sign “Engro” b/c his mngt gades realy very highly strong strigle team work

Thar coal: a comparative study
In the above captioned article published recently in the News dated 26th Oct, 2009 (www.thenews.com.pk), it has been correctly pointed out that, in Pakistan people tend to start serious discussions on issues that they have no idea about.

In the author, Mr. Kamran Riaz’s own words “In Pakistan, people, who have absolutely no knowledge of an issue under discussion, tell conspiracy theories about it with such conviction that one starts believing that perhaps these people are narrating a firsthand account of acts to which they were eye witnesses.”

Mr. Riaz further adds: “Something similar is happening with Thar Coal today. Print and electronic media are awash with stories about how we have the world’s largest reserves of coal in the Thar desert but still we are not benefiting from this coal.”.

The author Mr. Riaz finds proliferation of such myths amusing, even bewildering and adds “Perhaps, it would be better for us as a nation to investigate the facts of an issue first instead of immediately resorting to emotional sloganeering”.

One couldn’t agree more with Kamran Riaz’s very accurate assessment of this uniquely Pakistani Phenomenon. However, something needs to be said in support of those people, to whom something definitely appears to be wrong with the whole Thar Coal picture. Whether or not it is a conspiracy, it would be dependant on the mind of the beholder.

There is an old saying, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck.” The whole Thar Coal saga for at least the last 15 years has been either a series of unlikely coincidences and a comedy of errors or something more sinister and since our top bureaucratic brass in Islamabad and Karachi are anything but comedians it leads to the only conclusion that Thar Coal Development was and probably still is being deliberately delayed and even sabotaged.
Out of many examples supportive of this hypothesis, only a handful is being mentioned here in order to illustrate the various impediments that have been created to hinder progress on Thar Coal.

Contrary to the claims made in Kamran Riaz’s article, there was in fact, a long queue of international mining giants trying to get concessions for mining rights for Thar Coal during 1994/1995, many such companies did come to Pakistan, signed MOU’s, set up offices and field camps and started importing equipment. But after the change of Government in 1996, the new Govt decided that they were going to focus on Hydel Power instead and coal power was not needed, the then serving Petroleum Minister went on record to announce this sudden and dramatic policy shift in 1996/97. All these international companies were therefore driven away, sustaining huge losses. Current lack of interest by international mining companies is largely due to lack of credibility, primarily caused by Government policy inconsistencies rather than any deficiency in the resource base of Thar Coal, as erroneously claimed by
Mr. Riaz in his article, This article further says:

“Much is made of the story of the Chinese company Shenhua which did a preliminary feasibility study of Thar coal but decided not to pursue the project further allegedly on disagreement with proposed tariff. In fact after doing a preliminary feasibility study in 2002, Shenhua had reached the conclusion that the Thar coal project was not feasible purely an economic basis at that time because the cost of extraction of coal was very high and based on international coal prices at the time, it made more sense to import coal for power generation.”

Reports and correspondence by Shenhua, on file with Sindh Govt contains no such conclusions; on the contrary the Tariff dispute is well documented and was also written about in newspapers including Asia Times of May 18, 2007, which states

China quits $1.5bn Pakistan coal project By Syed Fazl-e-Haider

QUETTA, Pakistan – The Shenhua Group Corp of China is quitting the US$1.5 billion Thar coal project in Pakistan…….The main reason for the withdrawal is the power tariff rate offered by Pakistan, which the Chinese side deemed insufficient to continue power generation……Pakistan had previously turned down Shenhua’s demand for a tariff of 5.7 US cents per unit for the Thar project…….The Chinese group later expressed its willingness to install the power plant at a price of up to 6.5 cents per unit, but the government had not yet made a final decision on the tariff”

Note: NEPRA finally decided on 7.8 cents Tariff on Jan 11, 2008, after 4 years of denying Shenhua’s requests and after Shenhua had already quit.

The assertion that cost of extraction of Thar Coal is higher than imported coal is yet another fallacy; RWE powers feasibility study for block 1 completed in 2004 calculated the production cost of Thar lignite at $36.5/ton which is much cheaper than imported coal. No one in or outside the Govt has challenged this figure.

Mr. Kamran Riaz would be better served to heed his own advice of investigating facts before printing information that tends to mislead people. The foregoing discussion on the subject article is intended as a professional discourse and not a personal attack on the author or an expression of doubt on his integrity. On the contrary it is hoped that a frank and free exchange of opinions between professionals, done in good faith would be in the overall best interests of the Thar coal project and its ultimate beneficiaries, the people and the nation of Pakistan.

The article presents partial truths as solid scientific facts thus creating new myths which are conveying a negative image about the whole Thar Coal project.

Partial truths and half truths are far more dangerous than total falsehoods. (Samuel Huntington)

Example, the following passage: “The deposits at Thar are of Lignite type of coal. These deposits have very high moisture content with water level approaching almost 50% and are considered to be of inferior quality. This coal is highly volatile and cannot be transported over long distances. So, exporting this coal after extraction from ground or transporting it to more convenient locations is not possible. That is why it is suitable primarily for mine-mouth power generation.”

Yes, the coal quality is lignite and it is a younger formation of coal and therefore compared to other coal classifications such as Anthracite, Bituminous and Sub Bituminous it has lesser carbon and therefore lesser heating value, but then majority of coal found in the rest of the world and used for power generation is Lignite. The high moisture content is not a liability as popular perception may have people believe, but a huge practical asset given the scarcity of water in the desert. Before being fed into the power plant boilers, Thar lignite @ 48% – 50% moisture will be made to pass through a drying plant where the moisture content will be reduced to 12% and the drying plant will condense and recover water which can be used to operate the power plant, Drying not only provides water for the power plant but improves boiler efficiency, the heating value of the dry coal doubles from 5120 BTU/lb to 10240 BTU/lb; Operation and maintenance costs are reduced because of lesser volumes of feedstock being handled. Therefore, the Lignite found in Thar is not, and I repeat not inferior to that found elsewhere in the world.

Frankly, the notion that this coal is so volatile that it cannot even be transported is so ridiculous that even a school boy would laugh at it. Where did this idea come from, it is Coal, not TNT or Nitro Glycerin bomb, it doesn’t explode. I probably still have sack full of Thar coal sitting at my house in Hyderabad, (I brought it back as a souvenir when we ran into it while drilling for water near Islamkot in 1990), my house hasn’t blown up in 20 years. I guess, someone must have read something, somewhere about coal fires or spontaneous combustion and decided to use it as yet another half truth to discredit the Thar Coal resource, by presenting it as a scientific fact and informing all of Pakistan through a national publication that this coal is dangerous, don’t go near it or you might blow up and die, because this coal is volatile. What irresponsible, unprofessional nonsense to feed people and to create fear.

The rather lengthy discussion on the estimates of the coal reserve and the various classification methodologies as to what constitutes “measured recoverable” or “indicated” or “inferred” reserves etc serves only to confuse the casual reader and create questions in their mind. The use of buzz words such as hypothetical, purported, highly speculative etc, may sound impressive to the casual reader and perhaps help the author to drive home the point as to whether Thar coal is even worth pursuing, one also wonders what qualifies a “Chartered Financial Analyst” to make a blanket technical statement about Thar coal deposits i.e. “bulk of these reserves have a relatively low degree of geological assurance”.

As impressive as the statistical charts in the article may look in order to support the authors critical point of view, it will be important to realize that a different chart can as easily be pulled off the internet to justify a totally opposite point of view, economists and financial experts constantly manipulate statistics in this manner to emphasize or justify whatever it is that they want people to believe on that particular day. A classic example of this type of manipulation is a statement issued by America’s Chief Economist, the famous Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, at a time of very high inflation (when housing, energy and food prices had tripled) “if you factor out housing, food and energy prices, there is really no inflation in America.” It will be a disservice to factor things in or out of the Thar coal project and it would be best to stay with the facts.

The Canadian example used in the article, presumably refers to the Tar Sand Oil deposits in Calgary, Alberta. If this is correct, the example is not comparable or applicable to Thar Coal as the nature and type of these two fossil fuels are different, furthermore, the infrastructure in Calgary is fully developed and the Canadian economy is huge and diversified therefore it can manage and sustain market based responses. A more appropriate example would have been that of South Africa who had to develop their coal resources, irrespective of market price fluctuations, to survive as a nation during decades of international sanctions, Pakistan is pretty much in a similar situation and needs to develop its indigenous thermal power resources and save its precious foreign exchange, once we are there than we can worry about the classic economic theories.

There should be no doubt that the Coal resources of Thar are real and viable, enough studies have been done by international experts to support and substantiate this opinion, and it is in Pakistan’s vital National interest that this resource be developed forthwith and not be allowed to get bogged down by confusion or doubts created by ill-informed and un researched opinions.

Zahoor A. Abbasi zabbasi@live.com
(The writer is a USA based professional Geo Technical Engineer, with extensive experience of working in the Thar Desert.)

Environment Polluting Thar Coal Project Versus Environment Friendly Kalabagh Dam.

It is very strange to note that present Government is advocating for Air Polluting Thar Coal Project Versus Environmental Friendly Kalabagh Dam.

Kalabagh dam which will increase the water resources of the country is being opposed while Thar coal project,which will consume huge amount of water and will contaminate all water,air and land resources of Pakistan is being adovcated by the governement Clean electricity produced by Kalabagh dam will be available to every one citizen of the country while thar coal project will pollute all water,air and land resources of Pakistan for every one.Thar coal will effect each and every living organism while Kalabagh will not only store water for the time of need but with the generation of electricity will increase the resources of water by sucking up the underground water resources and will provide the clean electricity .
Coal is one of the most polluting sources of energy available, jeopardizing our health and our environment. While Kalabagh Dams will have multiple advantages and will act as electricity power house,water reserevoir and floods preventor generate electricity,Store water,will improve fertility of lands.
The Effects of Coal on the Environment.
Coal as a source of energy is probably the most environmentally damaging of all the traditional sources of energy.
• Coal Power in a Warming World by Barbara Freese et al, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists in October 2008 states that “The underground mining of coal is a dangerous profession, and underground and surface mining are both highly damaging to landscapes, water supplies, and ecosystems”.
• The Natural Resources Defense Council paper entitled “Coal in a Changing Climate”, issued in February 2007 claims that “Coal mining—and particularly surface or strip mining—poses one of the most significant threats to terrestrial habitats in the United States.”
• Figures from “Key World Energy Statistics: 2008″ show that coal is responsible for 42% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
• “Coal in a Changing Climate” shows that coal produces large amounts of airborne toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide, mercury, nitrous oxides, arsenic and lead.

Coal is a highly polluting energy source. It emits much more carbon per unit of energy than oil, and natural gas. CO2 represents the major portion of greenhouse gases. It is, therefore, one of the leading contributors to climate change. From mine to sky, from extraction to combustion — coal pollutes every step of the way. The huge environmental and social costs associated with coal usage make it an expensive option for developing countries. From acid drainage from coal mines, polluting rivers and streams, to the release of mercury and other toxins when it is burned, as well as climate-destroying gases and fine particulates that wreak havoc on human health, COAL is unquestionably, a DIRTY BUSINESS.
On one side China and India are planning to curb the Carbon emmision by curbing the use of oil,coal and other fossil fuels,and Bangladesh and Maldives are crying for taking measures against rise of seas due to global warming and on other side we Pakistanies are planning to use Thar coal which will not only pollute the whole environment of South Asia but will infact endanger the life of peoples living in Kashmir,Northern areas,NWFP,PUNJAB and Sind as the direction of smoke and dangerous gases will be from east to north west of Pakistan.And people of these areas will suffer from respioratory diseases such as Asthma,Bronchitis and cancer, and people of these areas will suffer from dangers and adverse effects of somking without somking the cigarrets.

Already Polluted Atmosphere of South Asia.
South Asia is already suffering from the adverse effects of Brown cloud(Accumulation of Dirty gases in upper atmosphere of Subcontinent and is having negative effects on the heath of population of India and Pakistan ,Moreover there is already shortage of Ozone gas in the upper atmosphere of South Asia,due to which people of South Asia (India, Pakistan,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ) are not having perfect healthy bodies as compared other reaces of the world.In view of such a bad condition of atmosphere burning the coal is just like to throw the people Pakistan into valley of death
There are a number of adverse environmental effects of coal mining and burning, specially
The glaciers of the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindukush and Pamir ranges in Gilgit-Baltistan contribute significantly to the stream flow of the IBRS. More significantly, during the dry season these glaciers become the system’s only source. Impacts due to climate change on these glaciers have been studied in recent decades and vivid fluctuation of water flow in the Indus River Basin System has been reported.
Conclusion:
Due to flow of toxic gases and smoke from Thar Coal towards North and Western Pakistan,It is the responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir,Northern Areas,NWFP,Punjab and Sind Governments to review the adverse effects of Thar coal as it is the matter of life and death of the people of these areas.As unhealthy environment due to smoke and toxic gases will destroy the beauty of Vallies of Kashmir and Gilgit and Baltistan and will cause health problems such as cancer,asthama,bronchitis and other respiratory and genetic diseases due to environmental pollution in the people of Punjab,NWFP,Kashmir,Gilgit and Batistan.

Written By:M.AKRAM KHAN NIAZI.
Karachi,Pakistan.

I am happy with the above article by Mr Zahoor, although I am still not clear about some of the criticial things. If study of Block 1 has already been finalized then why we are wasting our resources on 2nd block study?
I am in Australia, most of the electricity is from coal but, they are working and adopting on underground coal gasification (UGC)technology. My understanding is that this technique is primarily where traditional mining cannot be performed or cost associated with mining is huge. Please Comment!

A nice article on Thar Coal Project:

http://pakistansolutions.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-government-system.html

very nice text about thar coal……………………….
mega project..

iam vinod mathrani.
mining engineer.
graduated from mehran university jamshoro.
very nice text about thar coal……………………….
mega project..

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