Pakistan: Maple Leaf and Lucky Cement plan power plants

Pakistan's two leading cement manufacturers, Maple Leaf Cement Factory (MLCF) and Lucky Cement, have approached the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to obtain a formal generation licence for setting up power plants in the country.

Maple Leaf Cement has earlier announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary company, Maple Leaf Power Ltd, had signed an agreement with plant supplier Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd, China, to build a 40MW imported coal-fired power plant at Iskanderabad, Mianwali district, Punjab, to power its cement manufacturing operations. The project, which is based on highly-efficient steam turbine generators, fuel supply and cooling systems, is expected to start commercial production in May 2017.

Lucky Cement’s subsidiary, Lucky Electric Power Co Ltd, is also in the process of setting up a 660MW coal-based power project in Karachi. Lucky approached NEPRA to apply for approval for a power plant based on local Thar coal, available in Sindh province of Pakistan, instead of imported coal. The government has recently announced that proposed power plants should give preference to local coal for the power generation.