The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) of Pakistan, has charged KE, the only vertically-integrated power utility in Pakistan, with the construction and operation of a 2.4-km short distance gas pipeline.  State-owned Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) will dispatch gas through the pipeline for a 900-megawatt power plant at Bin Qasim.

The pipeline would be capable of transporting up to 250 mmcfd of gas and is expected to cost $4 million.

A K-Electric spokesperson said that the company aimed to complete the construction of the pipeline by March-April 2021, so that one of the two 450MW RLNG-based power plants could be made operational by the forthcoming summer season.

K-Electric said the 2.4km pipeline would be laid from Tie-in Point, SSGC Custody Transfer Station located at Bin Qasim, to K-Electric Bin Qasim Power Complex. The RLNG projects would help bridge the power company’s supply-demand gap in Karachi in the years to come.

“The addition of the 900MW RLNG power plant along with proposed decommissioning of older and lesser efficient units will ultimately increase the power utility’s generation capacity and lead to improved service delivery,” said K-Electric.

Gas turbines and steam generators have arrived. The second unit of 450MW can be brought online by the end of 2021, it said.