Orient Power Project

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On Nov. 10, 2006, Orient Power Company (Pvt) Limited (OPCL) signed an implementation agreement with Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) of the Government of Pakistan to buid, own, operate and maintain a 225 MW combined-cycle power plant in Balloki, just outside the city of Lahore in Punjab province of Pakistan. This power project was the first to be implemented under the Policy for Power Generation Projects 2002 that clearly laid out the incentives and regulatory regime for private investments in power generation. OPCL committed to sell all its power to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company under a 30 year long-term power sales agreement signed in August 2006. The generation capacity of this power project was expected to be doubled to 450MW under Phase II expansion. On completion of both phases, this project was expected to serve nearly 20% of the power requirements of Lahore. The project held a fuel supply contract with SNGPL signed in October 2006. The project consisted of 2 GT (GE 6FA)+2 HRSG+1 ST. OPCL was jointly owned by entrepreneur Nadeem Babar (26.1%), Oman Oil Company (49%), and DEG (24.9%), part of the KfW group owned by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. Information on how this project was awarded to OPCL was not available from public sources. The total cost of this project (Phase I) was estimated at US$170 million. The project reached financial closure in December 2006 with a debt of Rupees 8 billion from a consortium that included Habib Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, United Bank, Allied Bank, Bank Alfalah, and Pak Oman Investment Company. Construction on the project began in December 2006. OPCL was initially scheduled for commercial operations in December 2008. The power plant was evenutally commissioned in May 2010. http://www.ppib.gov.pk/N_orient.htm