COAL THE NEGLECTED ENERGY SOURCE IN PAKISTAN

COAL IN THE WORLD AN OVER VIEW

Coal as an energy source has a historical precedence over all other fossil fuels and even presently it contributes to nearly 26% of the worlds primary commercial energy requirements. The best known high rank deposits of coal of Carboniferous age occur in Europe, Asia and North America and those of Permian age are located through out the former continent of Gondwana Land now Pakistan, India and Australia. Low rank deposits of subbituminous and lignite occur in Tertiary strata of Europe, North America, Australia, Asia and parts of South East Asia. The total in-situ resources of coal in the world including both high and low rank material, have been estimated at about 984,211 million tonnes. Out of these 509,491 million tonnes are high rank (bituminous and anthracite) and 474,720 million tonnes are low rank (lignite and sub-bituminous) (Journal World Coal). Out of that more than 60% of the total reserves are located in former USSR, USA and China. Australia, Poland, U.K., Germany, India and South Africa have also large recoverable reserves of hard coal (anthracite and bituminous coal) while Germany, Australia, former Yugoslavia, Poland, Pakistan and India contain significant amount of low rank coal reserves. Traditionally, worlds coal has been mined by underground methods. However, in recent years, largescale mining by high productivity, open-cut techniques has also been undertaken. In-situ gasification methods have not been very successful so far as commercial utilization techniques. Over 60% of coal production, in general world wide, is consumed for generation of electric power while around 25% is used for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. Industrial, including cement and paper mills, chemical plants, domestic and other heating installations account for the remainder. Most of the coal produced in the world is consumed by the countries within which it is being mined. However, a small proportion, around 10%, is exported to countries where the demand of coal exists. The principal coal exporters are USA, Australia, South Africa, Poland, former USSR, Canada and Germany. The major importers are Japan, France, Italy, besides some other European and South Asian countries. Most of the worlds lignites occur in Asia and a sizeable part of the Asian coal potential exists in Pakistan. Some 97% of coal reserves of Pakistan are of lignite rank and vast deposits of these occur in Tharparker area of Sindh Province. Out of an estimated 475 billion tonnes of sub-bituminous and lignite reserves of the world, 46.7% occur in

Asia, 34.9% in Europe, 9.6% in America and 7.7% in Australia. The recoverable reserves of lignite in Asia are as under: Pakistan 36.9% Indonesia 31.6% China 27.4%, India 2.8%, and Thailand 1.2%. Although coal has registered a slight set back as a source of energy due to increased share of petroleum products, natural gas, nuclear power and solar / wind energy still it continues to be a key source of energy specially for power generation. Cement and power plants are increasingly being converted to coal world wide. At present, the share of coal in world electricity consumption is about 38%. Two key countries of this region, China and India are projected to add an estimated 180 gigawatts and 50 gigawatts of new coal fired generating capacities respectively (International Energy Outlook 2000, Forecast). This projection accounts for 33% of the worlds total increase in energy consumption and 90% of worlds total increase in coal use. Pakistans share in it has still to be determined.

COAL RESOURCES OF PAKISTAN

Pakistan is faced with serious energy crises. It is widely known that the present level of energy generation in the country is far short of that which is necessary to sustain the rate of industrial growth and satisfy growing consumer requirements. In the energy based societies of today, every indigenous source of energy must therefore be tapped and put to optimum use. The Geological Survey of Pakistan had taken the task of providing reliable data on the countrys resources to facilitate planning for development in energy sector. GSP has organized a number of workshops / seminars on the Coal Resources of Pakistan at Karachi and Islamabad to bring the stake holder including private and public sector mining companies and local and foreign investors. These events highlighted the role of the indigenous resources in the national economy especially in the energy and steel sectors. Pakistan has considerable oil, gas, coal reserves; tidal, solar and hydel potential amongst the non-renewable and renewable energy resources. Coal as an energy source has a historical precedence over all other fossil fuels and even presently contributes to nearly 26% of the worlds primary commercial energy requirements. Pakistan has emerged as one of the leading country - seventh in the list of top 10 countries of the world after the discovery of huge lignite coal resources at Thar in the province of Sindh. Economists say that the energy demand over the next 5 years is expected to grow at a rate of 7.4 % per annum. To meet the future requirements with indigenous resources,

domestic exploration and use of the indigenous coal in power generation would have to be intensified Coal-the black gold, is found in all the four provinces of Pakistan. It has huge coal resources, over 186 billion tones, out of which 3.5 billion tones are in proven/measured category and about 11.7 billions are indicated reserves, the bulk of it is found at Thar in Sindh province Please refer to Location map and Table on Summary of Quality & Coal Resources of Pakistan.

Location Map showing the coal occurrences of Pakistan

Coal has to assume a vital and significant role if Pakistan wants to reduce dependence on the countrys useful but limited supply of natural gas and to reduce burden on foreign exchange being spent on the costly import of oil. The huge coal resources of the country can play a significant role in meeting the energy demand for a long time. To promote coal exploration and research, the technical capabilities of the GSP have to be further enhanced through collaboration, assistance and professional trainings.

Two workshops on the significance of coal resources of Pakistan have so far been organized by the GSP first during February 1989 and the second on 31 May, 2005 at Karachi. These events highlighted the role of the indigenous resources in the national economy especially in energy and industry and provided much needed forum for development strategies and programs for future exploration of coal in the country and to formulate a policy for expanding the coal resources base through intensive exploratory efforts in all known fields as well as in identifying new prospective areas. It is very much evident that the coal resources of Pakistan have now assumed a vital significance. The various papers presented in this workshops and the exchange of views in various technical sessions and panel discussions have supplemented this view. The GSP has met the challenge of identifying the coal resource available to meet the energy needs, to reduce dependence on its fast depleting supply of natural gas and decrease the ever increasing oil import bills. In this respect technological developments with respect to coal exploration, extraction, handling, transportation and utilization that could accelerate future development of Pakistans coal need to be identified on war footings. This development in turn will have far reaching impact on secondary and tertiary growth of allied industries, business, infrastructure, employment opportunities and socioeconomic scenario in the country. Table: Summary of Quality & Coal Resources of Pakistan

THAR COAL FIELD, SINDH

Thar coalfield, one of the worlds largest lignite deposits discovered by GSP in 1992, through joint and concerted efforts of GSP and USGS under COALREAP programme is spread over more than 9, 000 sq. kms with dimensions of 140 km. (northsouth) and 65 km. (east-west) comprise around 175 billion tones sufficient to meet countrys fuel requirements for centuries. Pre-feasibility study to utilize this coal resource for 2x300 MW indigenous, mine mouth, coal fired power plants has been completed. Hydrogeological investigations have also been completed. Exploration of Thar coal will supplement the existing energy output in the country and will give boost to the economy of Sindh province. The GSP had successfully completed coal resources evaluation in the four specific tracts/ blocks of Thar coal field. The evaluation study of the GSP in the four specific tracts consisted of drilling 167 bore holes with a cumulative depth of over 50, 000 meters and chemical analyses of more than 2, 000 coal samples. On the basis of these studies, the required coal potential of a minimum of 500 million tons in each block has been established by the GSP. Proving of over 2.7 billion tones of coal in the four tracts at Thar is sufficient for power generation of 4,000 MW capacities for 30 years, which is almost equal to the present short fall in power generation. If these reserves are combined with over 9 billion tonnes of indicated reserves, these would be sufficient for generation of around 40,000 MW of electric power to meet all energy/ fuel requirements of the country. The proposed coal bed methane (CBM) studies to be carried out in Thar will enhance the value of this deposit many fold.

Reserves of Thar Coal field

GSP, through close-spaced exploratory drilling of in the four specific tracts, covering an area of about 356.5 sq. km. with a cumulative drill depth of over 50,000 meters has established the following reserves:

Coal Resources of Thar Coal Field, Sindh, Pakistan

SPECIFIED BLOCK/FIELD AREA (Sq.km.) DRILL HOLES RESERVES (million tonnes) MEASURED 620 640 411 637 2,308 392 2,700 INDICATED 1,918 944 1,337 1,640 5,830 3,556 9,395 INFERRED 1,028 258 282 1,568 49,138 50,706 HYPOTOTAL THETICAL 3,566 1,584 2,006 2,559 9,715

BlockI (Sinhar-VikianVarvai) BlockII (Singharo-Bhitro) BlockIII (Saleh-Jo-Tar) BlocklV (Sonalba) Sub total Block I-IV Rest of Thar Coal Field Total (Thar Coal Field)

122.0 55.0 99.5 80.0 356.5 8643.5 9000.0

41 43 41 42 167 50 217

112,705 165,791 112,705 175,506

COAL UTILIZATION
At the time of independence, coal with an average annual production of 150,000 tonnes, met about 30 percent of the countrys annual commercial energy demand. Since then the annual production of coal has increased to over 3.4 million tonnes but it barely meets 8-10% of the domestic demand for commercial energy. At present the indigenous coal is being consumed mainly for brick kiln industry and the shafre for power generation is very meager. During 199495 about 98.6% of the total coal production was consumed by brick kiln industry and only a small part 1.3% was used for power generation, but during 1999 2000 about 88.98% of the total production was consumed by brick kiln industry and the share for power generation rose to 10.98%. If we include the imported coal then the share of coal utilization for different sectors is as follows:

CONSUMPTION OF COAL IN PAKISTAN

Brick kiln Industry = 68.4% Power Generation = 11.5% Coke Manufacture = 23.2%

The above statistics are reflective of the dismal use of the indigenous coal which is attributed to the prevailing recession in the construction industry (user of brick-kiln) and switchover to furnace oil & gas by industries previously used to run on coal in 1950s, 60s and 70s. WAPDA installed three units (50MW each) of coal fired power generation plants at Khanote, Hyderabad. According to estimates the total coal consumed by these three power plants since July 1993 to October 2000 was about 1.9 million tonnes. The total cost of the coal comes to Rs. 260/- million and the total electricity units generated during the last seven years were 1,862,874,000 KW. According to WAPDA estimates the ratio of coal consumed per KW is 0.845 KG and the price comes to 68 paisas / KW including all overhead expenses.

RELATION OF COAL IN PAKISTAN TO OTHER FORMS OF ENERGY

Energy resources are vital for economic development of a country. Pakistan lacks badly in energy resources. Even the available indigenous resources are not properly used. Serious imbalances in country's international trade position have developed due to an annual import of fuel valuing about US$ 3.5 billion in 2001-2002. The development of indigenous energy resources are, therefore, of vital importance. With very little oil, useful but limited supply of natural gas, Pakistan cannot afford to neglect its indigenous huge coal resources.

The pattern of energy production and consumption with particular reference to coal has changed markedly in the past witnessing several distinct episodes, each characterized by one fuel type dominating other in the total energy scenario. At the time of independence coal with an average annual consumption of 3,000,000 tonnes (including about 50% imported) used to meet about 60 percent of the commercial energy demand. It powered railway engines, fueled cement factories, heated brick kilns, produced electricity and met some of the domestic requirements too. The discovery of natural gas in 1952 at Sui in Balochistan Province, provided Pakistan with a cleaner and more convenient fuel with its artificially low price rapidly replacing coal almost all of its conventional uses except the brick kilns. The development of hydro electricity resulted in a further decline of use of coal. The primary commercial energy consumption in Pakistan at present is about 23 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE). The share of each fuel is as follows: Share of Different Fuels in Commercial Energy Composition Oil=29.4% Gas 40.8% Hydro = 16.4% Coal = 11.5% Nuclear = .9%
(Energy year book 2007)

The reserves and production figures of various fuels of Pakistan are given below: Reserves and Annual Production of Different Fuels Fuel Oil Gas Coal Reserves 47.41 616.15 1863.72 Annual Production 3.302 29.315 1.629
(Energy year book 2007)

(in million TOE)

The present reserve to production ratios (R/P) of various fuels mentioned above comes to: Oil =14.35 Gas =21 and Coal = 1,144. These figures speak for themselves that the use of indigenous coal in the country is not commensurate with the size of its reserves.

Most countries of the world are using major share of their coal production for power generation as shown in the table below:
Share of Coal in Electricity Generation

POLAND S.AFRICA AUSTRALIA CHINA INDIA PAKISTAN CZECH REP. GREECE DENMARK UK USA GERMANY WORLD(AVERAGE)

96% 90% 86% 81% 75% 11.5% 73% 70% 59% 58% 56% 51% 38%

Source: World Coal Institute,London,October,2006.

Production of Coal, Natural Gas and Crude Oil in Pakistan from 2003-2004 to 2007-2008

S. No. MINERAL

2003-2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

1. 2.

Coal Natural Gas (in Million CFT) (TOE)

3,207,395 1,202,750

3,411,962 1,344,953

3,649,412 1,400,026

3,580,088 1,413,581

3,974,365 1,454,194

(25,260,326) (27,960,360) (29,204,657) (29,325,653) (29,872,685)

3.

Crude Oil (in US barrels) (TOE)

22,624,943

24,118,780

23,935,630

24,614,721

25,603,082

(3,035,275)

(3,235,683) (3,211,112) (3,302,216) (3,434,811)

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS OF GSP TO BE COMPLETED IN FUEL SECTOR DURING NEXT 5 YEARS NAME OF THE SCHEMES COST (Rupees in million)

Ongoing Projects
Exploration and evaluation of Chamalang-Bala Dhaka, Bahlol (District Kohlu Barkhan and Loralai) and parts of Ghazij Coal Basin in Balochistan..

30.00

New Projects Submitted for Approval

Appraisal of Newly discovered coal resources of Badin coal field and its adjoining areas of southern Sindh (2008-2011) Exploration of Tertiary coal in Central Salt Range, Punjab (2009-2012). Exploration and Evaluation of Coal in Raghni area, Tehsil Sharig, Balochistan (2009-2011).

181.985

38.595

53.465 million

INITIATIVES REQUIRED Coal has to assume a vital and significant role if Pakistan wants to reduce dependence on the country's useful but limited supply of natural gas and to reduce the burden on foreign exchange being spent on the import of oil. The initiative has to be taken for increased utilization of coal in the following fields: Coal fired electricity generation plants As fuel in cement, sugar and steel industries Coal briquettes as fuel for house hold consumption.

The huge coal resources of Pakistan can play a significant role in meeting its energy demand for a long time. In this connection it will be necessary to make all out concerted efforts towards: a) Expanding the coal resources base through intensive exploratory efforts in all known fields as well as in new prospective areas; b) Introducing semi-mechanization in coal mining to keep up production as well as its cost at competitive levels; c) Developing indigenous R&D capabilities for adopting various advanced coal technologies to suit local conditions. Coal briquetting needs especial attention to cope with the energy requirements of villages and remote areas. In these areas, due to fuel shortage, the deforestation has reached at an alarming stage. Coal briquettes can solve some of the fuel shortage problems in rural areas.

* M/S Nazar-ul-Islam & Mohsin Anwar Kazim are Deputy Directors at Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta.