KARACHI: K-Electric (KE) finally completed the first firing of 450 MW unit of its flagship 900MW RLNG-based Bin Qasim Power Station III (BQPS-III) on Monday, and the Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to grace the inaugural ceremony anytime at his ‘convenience’, sources in KE told Business Recorder.
The completion of first firing of unit-I BQPS-III is a milestone in the addition of energy for the Karachi, the commercial and economic hub of Pakistan, they said.
The power company has already requested the Premier through a proper channel to inaugurate this project, they said. However they did not mention specific date of the project’s inauguration.
The ‘first firing’ is akin to turning on the ignition on a new engine; in the case of BQPS-III, this engine is capable of energizing approximately 150,000 homes, said the company officials.
Achieving this stage requires extensive and rigorous testing of the complete equipment, which KE’s Generation teams had been conducting in coordination with its project partners Harbin Electric and Siemens AG.
Speaking live from the control room, CEO K-Electric expressed his immense happiness at the milestone stating: “It gives me great pleasure to share that we have successfully achieved the first fire on our BQPS-III plant. We started this project amid difficult circumstances mainly owing to a global pandemic, but our collective efforts have enabled us to achieve our dream of securing the city’s energy future.
“The next phase will entail connecting the plant to the grid after which we will be able to channel additional supply of reliable electricity towards Karachi.”
CEO K-Electric also appreciated the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Planning & Development, Governor Sindh, and NEPRA for their continued support and patronage in realizing this dream. He also thanked SSGC and PLL for their valuable contribution in guaranteeing a stable supply of RLNG for the plant’s operations.
With an investment of over USD 650 million, KE’s BQPS-III power plant is the utility’s flagship project which will cumulatively add 900 MW of energy to secure Karachi’s growing demand.
Since the beginning of work in early 2020, KE and its engineering partners have invested over 9 million man-hours to commission the project on a fast-track basis, he said.
The project is utilizing the latest in generation technology enabling it to be among the top-five most efficient power plants in Pakistan upon completion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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