ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 :The Sahiwal Coal Power Plant under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has completed ten years of successful operations, with its most recent performance test reaffirming its reputation for reliability. In the 2025 Annual Capacity Test, the plant delivered 1,252.03 MW against a benchmark of 1,243.517 MW, a result witnessed and verified by officials from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).
According to a statement by Spokesman Muhammad Umair, the plant’s consistent ability to exceed capacity tests “demonstrates not only engineering excellence but also a strong culture of preventive maintenance and operational discipline.” Independent experts have noted that few thermal plants in Pakistan maintain such a steady performance record over a decade.
Commissioned in 2017 after a record 22-month construction timeline, Sahiwal remains one of the fastest-built supercritical coal-fired power stations in the region, he added. Equipped with advanced turbines, flue gas desulfurization units, electrostatic precipitators, and continuous emissions monitoring systems, it has repeatedly been assessed as operating within both national and international environmental standards.
He described Sahiwal as “an important case study in how environmental controls, when treated as mission-critical, can allow coal generation to remain compliant and responsible.”
Localization of expertise has been another hallmark of the plant’s evolution. Over 70 percent of the workforce is now Pakistani, with many engineers who began as trainees in 2016 now leading control room operations and major maintenance schedules. “The handover of technical responsibility from Chinese specialists to local teams is one of the unsung successes of CPEC projects,” he noted.
Beyond electricity supply, the plant has contributed to local economic development. Thousands of jobs during construction, steady employment during operations, and a wide supply chain of contractors and SMEs in the Sahiwal-Okara region have created what local authorities describe as a “predictable multiplier effect” for nearby communities.
He said as Pakistan debates its future energy mix and transitions toward renewables, experts argue that the Sahiwal experience offers important lessons: clarity in contracts, disciplined operations, knowledge transfer, and firm commitments to environmental safeguards. Entering its second decade, the plant faces new challenges of efficiency upgrades and evolving emissions standards, but its track record suggests it will continue to exceed expectations.
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