Thar Coal
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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 [email protected] 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
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 [email protected] 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
