Hyderabad: Sindh Engro Coal Mining (SECMC) unearthed the first layer of indigenous coal from its open pit coal mine in Thar Coal Block II on Sunday. The mining firm’s machinery took out the first layer from an estimated 2.04 billion tons of coal resources in Thar Coal Block II after successfully dewatering the second acquirer, five months ahead of schedule. The coal was found 140 meters (460 ft) below the surface of earth. “The successful extraction of the first coal seam proves that Thar’s indigenous coal is exploitable and it can produce thousands of megawatts (MW) of cheap electricity for many decades,” announced Shamsuddin Shaikh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SECMC after the coal was unearthed in Thar Coal Block II. SEMC is a joint venture between Sindh Government and six private sponsors including Engro Energy, Thal Ltd, Habib Bank Ltd, Hubco, and two Chinese companies China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC). SECMC is a private public partnership that aims to explore and develop Pakistan’s first open pit coal mine. The coal procured from Thar’s coalmines will be supplied to Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL) which is putting up a 2×330 MW mine-mouth power plant. The power plant is expected to start energy generation by the end of this year. Both these projects are a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and are being constructed in collaboration with Chinese Contractors Congratulating the nation, especially the people of Thar, Mr. Shaikh said that it was a matter of great pride for the nation that the country’s indigenous energy resource would play a key role in circumventing the current energy crisis. “This is the moment all Pakistanis have been waiting for since the past 25 years, ever since coal was first discovered in Thar” added Mr. Shaikh. He thanked all the sponsors and lenders of this mega project. He also thanked the Federal Government and the Sindh Government for providing whole-hearted support to SECMC. Commenting on the performance of SECMC, Mr. Shaikh added that it had completed 16 million safe man-hours while removing 90 million cubic meters of overburden (earth). He added that SECMC performed this task 5 months ahead of schedule. Mr Shaikh added that SECMC saved $110 million against the budgeted cost which was unprecedented for a mega project. While Sharing SECMC’s future plans, Mr. Shaikh said that the Company planned to rapidly expand the mine in Block-II so it can reach its optimum capacity and produce 5000 MWs by 2024. Mr Shaikh explained that the expansion would drastically reduce the coal price making Thar Block-II not only the cheapest block in Thar but also the cheapest base load energy resource in Pakistan with a power tariff of only 5 US cents per kWH. He requested both the Federal and the Provisional Government to halt the development of all other coal blocks in Thar till SECMC’s Block II reaches its optimum capacity. Commenting on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work being done by the Company in Thar, Mr Shaikh said that SECMC was committed to making Islamkot an accelerated Taluka for attaining the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2024. Speaking on the occasion, Syed Abul Fazal Rizvi, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SECMC said that the coal in Thar, called ‘lignite’, was perfect for producing electricity. “With a cumulative thickness of around 26 meters, there are enough coal reserves in Block-II to produce 5000 MW for the next 50 years,” Rizvi said. He said that the full-fledged coal supply would start from the 3rd quarter of 2018 and the first electron would be generated from the EPTL power plant in December 2018. He reiterated SECMC’s commitment to continue serving the people of Thar and the energy sector of Pakistan. Published in Daily Times, June 11th 2018.