The government is likely to extend the deadline for the completion of Thar-Coal Underground Coal Gasification (UGC) project due to non-availability of funds. According to sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the Block-5 (64sq km) of Thar allocated for gasification project could meet the energy demands of the country for over 30-35 years as it has reserves of 1.4 billion tons of coal.
The country can easily meet the expected demands of around 2,200 Million Cubic Feet per Day (mmcfd) by 2015 through the project with an investment of merely $1.2 billion. An official working on block-5 of the Thar coal project said that the federal government apparently is not interested in the project as it has not released pledged funds for the project.
Coal is effectively used in Russia, South Africa, Australia and China for power production and production of diesel, urea and many other chemicals and petroleum products through UGC technology, he added. If the government is providing required funds for the project the electricity generated through the process would be available at $16 per Megawatt (MW) as compared to $77 per MW and $69 per MW produced through Integrated Gas Combined Cycle and Natural Gas Combined Cycle, respectively.
The demand of gas in the country is currently 6,200 mmcfd as against daily production of 4,000mmcft. There will be a shortfall of 2200 mmcfd and it may reach 3,200 Mmcfd by 2015. To meet the expected demand, almost 84 gasifiers are needed to be established as a gasifier is estimated to produce at least 26.5 mmcfd gas. Currently, only one gasifier has started production while another 17 units are in the pipeline. At least 49 to 50 gasifiers would be established in one square km of the Block-5 which was stretched over 64 sq km.
One gasifier is built at a cost of Rs 1.2 billion, making the total cost of 84 units Rs 101 billion or $1.12 billion. According to an estimate, a gasifier could easily produce the required gas for at least 10 years. The project ensures immediate supply of gas besides power generated by the underground gasification would be much cheaper.
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