LAHORE: The Sundar Industrial Estate would be the first industrial estate of the country to operate on its own power generation plant, S M Tanveer, Chairman, Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) said talking to The News.
The power plant would start generation from October 31, 2012, Tanveer added.
The 50 KW coal-based power plant of the Sundar Industrial Estate would produce electricity at lower than the state run Pakistan Electric Power Company rates, he said.
He said the industries in the Sundar Industrial Estate were hostage to erratic power supply from the national grid and PIEDMC that runs this estate has been working on various cost effective solutions to this problem.
A team of experts of PIEDMC studied all options and concluded that a coal-fired power plant would produce cheaper electricity and could be established in nine months. Tanveer said after recommendations from few of most respected power experts the PIEDMC invited proposals from various local and international companies.
He said all formalities were completed in a manner to ensure full transparency of the project.
A separate powerhouse with capacity of 50 megawatts would be established within nine months after awarding contract, he said.
This industrial estate would be working under purview of PIEDMC. Tanveer said that five international companies presented their proposals to complete this power plant on build and operate basis as investors.
He said the contract for the project would be awarded to the most suitable bidder strictly in line with Pakistani and global best standards to ensure that the project starts operation on schedule. In fact he added the deadline to start boilers and engines of both the plant has been set August 31, 2012. And it will start trial production of machinery.
“Currently the power demand in Sundar is around 50 MW but it is bound to increase when the under construction industrial projects become operational in 12-18 months,” he said
The coal based power project would be established on schedule and would be a big success paving way for the establishment of similar projects not only at Sundar but at other industrial estates as well, Tanveer said.
He said currently over 200 industrial projects are at various stages of completion at Sundar.
The PIEDMC is upgrading other industrial estates in Punjab to bring them close to the Sundar standards. Tanveer said power and energy shortage is the main impediment in accelerating industrialisation in Punjab.
Related Links:-
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=78366&Cat=3
http://e.jang.com.pk/11-19-2011/Lahore/page4.asp#
http://www.dailypak.com/epaper/2011/November/19-11-11/p3.html
http://nation.com.pk/E-Paper/Lahore/2011-11-19/page-17
SUNDAR INDUSTRIAL ESTATE TO GENERATE OWN ELECTRICITY
