Daily Times

All coal-fired power plants built by Chinese companies in Pakistan have been consistently using high-quality coal imported from other countries, it was learned from reliable official and non-official sources on Friday.

An official from the power division of Pakistan, seeking anonymity, commented on a news item raising a question about the coal quality and said that the writer of the news failed to understand the basic facts, and minutes of the meeting by the authority concerned and also did not bother to check the basic facts independently.

Basic knowledge about the power industry based on facts can clearly show and prove that the Chinese power plants cannot run on low-quality coal like a fighter jet cannot start and run on regular fuel.

A learned source told Internews that there is no classification of coal as “superior” or “inferior” based on the difference in thermal energy.

“If “less than 6000CV” is the definition of “inferior coal” according to an ignorant bureaucrat, then the coal mines in Thar of Pakistan have only 2000CV coal. So, under their parameter, should it be defined as extremely inferior coal,” said the source.

According to a reliable source, at the hearing site, the Chinese company had carried out detailed science popularization and explanation and introduced the correct and scientific concepts in the industry to the NEPRA officials who raised this issue.

The Chinese engineers and experts have briefed the Pakistani side about a clear scientific definition of the coal thermal zone set by the agency itself. According to the scientific design of the boiler, different power plants need to adapt to different calorific value zones of coal.

For example, according to the regulations of the Pakistani side, the Port Qasim coal-fired power station needs to use coal produced in Indonesia in the range of 4500-5500CV, and according to this calorific value range, the corresponding boiler has been designed. There is no positive correlation with coal prices.

There is no high or low calorific value affecting the price of coal, and the pricing power is not in the hands of Chinese companies, but in the hands of international coal exchanges, said the source.

The relevant media report written without proper knowledge has forcefully mixed the two together, neither seeking confirmation on the issue nor from the relevant departments of NEPRA, relying only on one-sided information and misguided and confused common people.