The CPEC portfolio consists of several early harvest coal energy projects which include the 2X660MW Port Qasim coal power plant (Read: "Port Qasim coal fired power plant" published Jun 27, 2016) and the 2X660MW Hubco coal based power plant in Hub, Balochistan which will be the focus of this issue. The majority of the prioritized energy portfolio consists of coal based power plants with an estimated total capacity of 7560 MW at an estimated cost of $10.3 billion.
The project company China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Ltd (CPHGC) is a joint venture between Hub Power Holdings Limited (HPHL) which is a subsidiary of Hubco and China Power International (Pakistan) Investment Limited; a Hong Kong based company formed by China Power International Holdings Limited.
Currently, China Power International Holdings (CPIH) has been offered a 74% equity stake in the project. However as mentioned in its quarterly report for March, 2016 Hubco has the right to increase its equity from current 26% to 49% by the commercial operation date.
The notice to proceed (NTP) for the project was issued on 17 June, 2015 and the letter of intent (LOI) was processed on 29 June, 2015 by the PPIB. The generation license application was accepted by NEPRA in August, 2015 with the tariff acceptance being submitted in September. The LOS for the project has been issued on April 12, 2016.
The reference levelised tariff awarded to the project is 8.117 Rs/kWh with the project being foreign financed and using imported coal. The project cost will amount to approximately $2.4 billion and the financing mechanism will be a debt to equity ratio of 80:20.
The Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been completed and the NOC has been approved by the Balochistan Environment Protection Agency (BEPA) while the land request has also been processed by the government of Balochistan. The NOC for jetty construction is under process and the coal supplier negotiations are ongoing as well with South African and Indonesian companies.
The EPC contractors for the plant have been selected and the agreements have been signed whereas the EPC contractor for the coal jetty has also been finalised last month. Discussions are also underway for the processing of term sheets with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Development Bank (CDB) and EXIM Bank with CDB chosen as the lead arranger of financing for the project. The COD of the project is expected to be around 2018 for the operational of the first unit but the overall project completion date may be well extend to 2020.
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