KESC

completed

The project is a corporate loan to KESC, an integrated electric utility supplying power to the city of Karachi, to support their three year (July 2006 to June 2009) $935 million capital investment program, which includes:- 795MW electricity generation capacity expansion at KESC''s existing thermal power stations by adding gas-fired combined cycle power generation units – 220 MW at Korangi Thermal Power Station (TPS) and 575 MW at Bin Qasim TPS, - rehabilitation of de-rated generation capacity at Bin Qasim TPS and - rehabilitation of KESC''s existing transmission and distribution (T&D) assets. IFC is proposing to provide financing of up to US$125 million to support the KESC’s capital investment program.KESC is engaged in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in a service area that includes about 6,000 square kilometers and a population of between 12-14 million. The company owns 1,756MW of generation capacity (oil and gas-fired), of which 1,336MW is currently operational. KESC’s transmission network consists of 220kV, 132 kV and 66kV circuits with 51 grid stations, and its distribution network includes 3,800 km of 11kV underground cable, 2,000 km of 11kV overhead cable, 8,000 distribution transformers, and over 10,000 km of 400V distribution lines. The company has about 18,000 staff. KESC was privatized in December 2005 and is owned 71.5% by KES Power Limited (holding company owned 60% by Al-Jomaih Group and 40% by National Industries Holding), 25.9% by the Government of Pakistan, and the remaining by local investors. Prior to the privatization, due to the lack of investment in both generation and T&D network, KESC’s generation and distribution capacity has not kept pace with demand growth, which has resulted in high level of capacity shortages and network interruptions. Under the new management, the company plans to expand generation capacity by adding clean and more energy efficient gas-fired combined cycle units at existing thermal power stations on a fast track basis and upgrade its T&D system in order to reduce its energy losses. The project is to assist the company to enhance customer service, improve power supply reliability, and strengthen environmental, health and safety management system.The 220MW Korangi Expansion Project will be implemented at surplus land within the boundary of the existing Korangi Thermal Power Station (KTPS) located in Ibrahim-Haidri Goth, Bin Qasim Town, District Malir, Karachi. KTPS, originally developed with 4 steam power units in 1965-1977 with installed capacity of 382MW, now has 3 units with de-rated maximum capacity of 197MW. The existing units of KTPS are operating on heavy fuel oil and gas with low energy efficiency. The Korangi Expansion Project will help KESC to expedite phase out of the existing units resulting in improvement of environmental performance. The project will have 4 GE LM6000 gas turbines, two of which will be developed as combined cycle configuration whereas the other two will remain as simple cycle. Gas will be supplied by Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) through an existing pipeline system. The 575MW Bin Qasim Expansion Project will be implemented at surplus land within the existing Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station (BQTPS) located in Port Mohammad Bin Qasim Industrial Estate, Bin Qasim Town, District Malir, Karachi. BQTPS was developed in 1983 to 1997 with six power units with installed capacity of 1,260MW (6 units x 210MW), and operates with de-rated maximum capacity of 1,060MW with heavy fuel oil and gas. The Bin Qasim Expansion Project will use two GE Frame 7FA gas turbines (170.2 MW x 2) and one steam turbines (234.2 MW) with net thermal efficiency of 53%. Gas will be supplied by Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) through an existing pipeline system.The T&D rehabilitation will include replacement of towers, cables, rehabilitation of transmission lines, installment of new grid stations and construction of new 220kV transmission lines.