Power Production From The Coal Reserves in Pakistan That not Only Fulfill our country Demand But Also Surplus Energy

As we all knows that Pakistan has great Geological aspects and God bless our country with strong nation, esteemed nation with four weathers and four provinces and every province has importance. Punjab and Sindh fulfill the demand of foods with blessing of fertility in the Land. This province is land of Five Rivers on the other end toward the South this province has deserts keeping the buried treasures of nature like Different Ores and minerals. Similarly if we see NWFP our North Province, it is diversified with Mountain Ranges and Fata Fana Forests. The Beauty of the Valleys with great importance for Tourism as well. The Ice that froze on its Hills in the winters on after melting fills the rivers of the Country. Baluchistan is the province with resources of Energy like Natural Gas. and others Ores like Chromium, Gypsum and Coal.

Coal is one of major energy source which is contributing in world's energy systems with the share of 23.80% and 23.75% of production and consumption respectively. In order to obtain clean fuels, the liquefaction and gasification of the world's most abundant fuel i.e., coal, have gained increasing attention. The energy sector requires efficient and clean energy supplies. In case of coal, we would have to ensure higher efficiencies, environmental acceptance, prolonging its availability and proper replacement for oil and natural gas. This is only possible through sustainable development of new coal conversion technologies.

Coal - the black gold is found in all the four provinces of Pakistan. Country has huge coal resources, about 185 billion tons, out of which 3.3 billion tons are in proven/measured category and about 11 billion are indicated reserves, the bulk of it is found in Sindh province.

Pakistan's Thar Desert contains the largest coal reserves discovered to date, covering an area of 10,000 square kilometers. The Thar Coal Field, should it be developed, will yield over 200 billion ton of coal used to produce electricity, it will yield sufficient power to make Pakistan self-sufficient in Electrical power. Pakistan has reserves of natural gas, but these will start to diminish by 2010.

Thar Coal Composition

The rank of Thar coal ranges from lignite-B to sub-bituminous-A with high moisture and low sulfur content. The average chemical analyses of the coal samples from the entire Thar coalfield are:

Moisture (AR) 46.77%
Volatile
Matter (AR) 23.42%
Fixed Carbon (AR) 6.66%
Ash (AR) 6.24%
Sulfur (AR) 1.16%
Heating 10,898 Btu/lb
Value (Dry)

It is also another myth that this project will alleviate the need for hydel electricity. The fact is that any electricity eventually produced from Thar coal would be at least twice as expensive as that generated from large dams. The main problem in electricity sector is not how to generate electricity, but how to generate electricity at an affordable price. If the issue had only been power generation than we also have abundant wind and solar resources, but these cannot be fully utilized because electricity produced from these sources would be prohibitively expensive. The average power generation cost given the current generation mix of Pakistan is about 6.5 cents/kwh. Electricity from Thar coal would provide relief to consumers if it can be generated at a cost lower than this average.

Zain Ahmed Siddiqee