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not change the group’s ownership.
A source at TOP said the move is good for
PTT because it will make the shareholding
structure in the electricity business less
complicated and allow easier execution of
future business plans.
TOP executives also expect the share sales
to help strengthen PTT’s financial status,
paving the way for more investment, the
source said.

COAL-FIRED GENERATION

Shanghai Electric

accelerates progress at
Thar Block-1

The first charter plane arranged by Shanghai
Electric and Air China took off from
Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport on
liquified natural gas (LNG) power project LNG market in Vietnam,” said David Lewis, August 4, taking the first batch of construction
being developed by a consortium led by ECV Chairman and CEO. team consisting of hundreds of Shanghai
Energy Capital Vietnam (ECV) for inclusion “The World Bank projects Vietnam to Electric’s workers, engineers and managers
into the National Power Development Plan of require up to 90,000 megawatts of new power to Pakistan as part of the support to speed up
Vietnam. generation over the next decade, and we the progress of Thar Block-1 Integrated Coal
According to an official announcement look forward to working with our talented Mine Power project, a major energy project
from the Government Office of Vietnam American, European and Asian partners to of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
dated August 13, 2020 (No. 293/TB-VPCP), address those needs in the years to come.” (CPEC).
the Prime Minister issued a directive to add ENERGY CAPITAL VIETNAM The construction progress of the project
ECV’s Mui Ke Ga LNG project (MKG) to the has been interrupted by the pandemic-
National Power Development Plan period induced travel restrictions which have made it
2021-2030 during a meeting with Binh Thuan GENERATION difficult for the workers to enter the country,
provincial leaders on July 23, 2020. The causing a substantial shortage of the on-site
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is PTT aims to raise stake in workforce and slowing down the overall
charged with submitting the updated plan to progress.
the Prime Minister in October 2020. GPSC Located in Thar Desert in the southeastern
ECV’s LNG project will provide for the part of Pakistan’s Sindh Province, Thar
development of a multi-phase gas-fired power PTT Plc is preparing to increase its Block-1 Integrated Coal Mine Power Project
complex and floating storage regasification shareholding in Global Power Synergy Plc covers an area of over 9,000 square kilometers
unit (FSRU) terminal near Mui Ke Ga in Binh (GPSC) to 31.7% to ease business operations, with the coal mine expected to achieve an
Thuan Province, Vietnam. without giving PTT and its subsidiaries more annual production capacity of 7.8 million tons
ECV, a leading Vietnam-focused project grip on GPSC. and two 660-megawatt coal-fired power plants
development and asset management company The national oil and gas conglomerate, now capable of providing affordable and reliable
established to serve as a platform for private with 22.8% ownership of GPSC, will buy 8.9% electricity for 4 million Pakistani households.
investment into Vietnam, has been in of shares, worth about 16.8 billion baht, from “As a priority project of both the ‘Belt and
discussions with the Vietnamese government Thai Oil (TOP), a refining arm under PTT, Road’ initiative and CPEC, the completion
regarding energy sector investment and according to a new shareholding structure of Thar Block-1 Integrated Coal Mine Power
privatization opportunities to help address its plan approved by PTT’s board on Thursday. Project will go a long way in advancing
critical energy security needs since 2015. PTT is also the parent company of GPSC, Pakistan’s energy development. However,
Phase I of the MKG project is targeting set up to serve as PTT’s power generation the COVID-19 has posed an unprecedented
Final Investment Decision (FID) in late 2021 arm. difficulty to the construction operations,” said
and Commercial Operational Delivery (COD) The share purchase deal is being negotiated Mr. Song Zaile, Executive Director of Thar
by 2025, and will consume approximately 1.5 and is expected to conclude this year. TOP Coal Block-1 Power Generation Company
million tons per year (mtpa) with an ability to currently holds 8.9% of GPSC. (PVT) Ltd (SPV of Shanghai Electric in
increase to 7 mpta over time. In total, PTT, TOP and another PTT Pakistan).
“Our multi-year relationship with the subsidiary, PTT Global Chemical, hold 75.2% “To address the challenges, we have
Vietnamese government has positioned ECV of shares in GPSC. been working on many fronts to keep the
to pioneer private sector development of the The change in shareholding structure will disruption caused by this global health crisis

Week 34 26•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11