QASIM COAL-FIRED PROJECT SETS NEW RECORD OF POWER GENERATION

Islamabad, April 3 (DNA): Qasim coal-fired power station generated 945 million kWh in March which breaks the record of the same type units power stations and reaches the maximum monthly generating capacity, according to PowerChina’s latest news.

Guo Guangling, General Manager of Qasim project told Gwadar Pro that Qasim’s two 660MW generator units have constantly operated at 100% capacity during whole March, generating 30 million kWh of electricity per day.

The 940 million kWh is the maximum monthly capacity Qasim can produce, which is possible to be achieved only by operating at full capacity for a full month without any production pause.

This data also breaks the previous record of the same type units power stations, 932 million kWh, which also was kept by Qasim project.

Indicated by the electric power department, in March, Qasim Power Station generated about 9.8% of domestic net on-grid electricity, which is equivalent to a year’s electricity consumption for about 400,000 average households here.

When asked, whether the units in Qasim capable of long-term operating at full capacity, Guo Guangling said, “Indeed, even in China, the same type units don’t constantly run at full capacity where load rates are around 50%.

However, the units in Qasim, thanks to the strict regular maintenance procedures and higher reliability, are still stable and well-performing after such a long time of full-load operation.”

After reaching the maximum generating capacity, next, Qasim turned its attention to being more environment-friendly.

“High-generating capacity, or high-efficiency power generation, to some extent, exactly means eco-friendly as far as a coal-fired power plant.”

The traditional power stations in Pakistan are costly and cause great pollution to the environment. This fact has aroused controversy and repulsion on coal-fired electricity midst people.

However, its uniqueness and importance decides that it cannot be completely replaced, at least in the short term.

In this case, higher efficiency of power generation, what Qasim is striving for, means lower pollution to the environment.

Guo pointed out that Qasim’s units use seawater secondary circulation for cooling and seawater desalination for water supply, and adopt environmental protection technologies such as limestone-gypsum desulfurization.

“That’s why emission indexes of Qasim are far better than local and World Bank environmental protection standards,” he said.

At the end of the interview, Guo promised that their efforts are just endless:“In the future, Qasim will continue to strive for the solution of domestic power shortage and sustainable development.

Meanwhile, we’ve also started to propose solutions to grid optimization in Pakistan so that the set-up of clean energy can be guaranteed,” he added, according to Gwadar Pro.