JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – UK energy developer Oracle Coalfields is a step closer to finalising the necessary approvals for a mine-mouth power plant in Pakistan with a date now having been set for public hearings to consider the project’s environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA).
Oracle reported on Wednesday that it expected the final approval of the ESIA “shortly after” the public hearing, which would be held on July 13.
The company is developing a combined lignite mineral resource and mine-mouth power plant in the Thar Desert in the southeast of Sindh province. Oracle believes that a power shortage in that country makes the development of Thar a compelling development.
The company’s subsidiary, TEPL, has registered the 660 MW mine-mouth power plant with the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB), a division of the Ministry of Water and Power, which approves independent power producer's proposals to build, own and operate power plants in Pakistan. This registration proposes an overall project of 1 320 MW to be constructed in two phases. In order to obtain the full approval for the project from PPIB a generation licence and electricity tariff also need to be agreed with the authorities along with an approved ESIA for the proposed power plant.