Energy Awareness Conference: 'Coal accounts for 50 percent of world's power generation needs until 2025'

"The coal was keeping pace with consumer electricity demand and, according to a recent study, coal will still account for about 45 to 50 percent of world's power generation needs until 2025."
Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) Manager Strategic Planning and Business Development, Ammar Ali Talaat said on Saturday, while addressing the NED students on the use of coal power as an alternative energy source in Pakistan, at 'Energy Awareness Conference.'
The conference, held at the NED University, Karachi from March 3 to 5, was aimed at creating better awareness about the need to shift from traditional energy resources to renewable energy. The KESC was the lead sponsor of the conference. He said Pakistan had huge reserves of coal, which offered the best solution for its energy needs.
He said KESC had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese company to convert two of its existing boilers at the Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station from furnace oil to coal. "The conversion aims at reducing KESC's reliance on furnace oil and result in cost savings for the company and consumers in the form of tariff reduction."
KESC has also signed MoU with another Chinese company for the development of Saunda-Jherruck Integrated Coal Mine and Power Plant Project. The annual production of this project will be 1.8 million tons of coal.
Talking about KESC's Thar Coal Power Project, Ammar said KESC had partnered with a British company that would handle the mining part, while KESC would put up a power plant of 300 megawatts which would be enhanced to 1,200 megawatt in the future. The speaker pointed out that in Pakistan a potential 3,000 megawatt power plants were run on furnace oil and, if measures were taken to convert those power plants to coal, the country would be in a position to save approximately one billion dollars per year.-PR