Business
MOU signed with Karachi Electric Supply Company
MOU signed with Karachi Electric Supply Company.
About this update from Oracle Power Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n\n 16/12/2009\n GB00B23JN426/GBP/PLUS-exn\n\n Oracle Coalfields Plc\n (\"Oracle\" or the \"Company\")\n\n MOU signed with Karachi Electric Supply Company\n\nThe Board of Oracle Coalfields PLC (PLUS: ORCP), the UK developer of a 1.4 billion tonne coal\ndeposit in southern Pakistan, is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a\nMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), a local power\nutility company.\n\nKESC is a major supplier of electricity in the Sindh Province, particularly Karachi, a city of\nalmost 17 milion people. KESC is fast-tracking the development of a number of new power plants in\norder to overcome existing and projected energy shortages in Karachi.\n\nBrief background on KESC\n\nKESC is a fully integrated power utility involved in the generation, transmission and distribution\nof 1,400 MW of electricity and is one of Karachi's largest employers, with some 17,000 employees.\nIt is also one of the oldest companies in Karachi, incorporated on September 13, 1913, under the\nIndian Companies Act of 1882. The company was nationalised in 1952 but subsequently re-privatised\non November 29, 2005. KESC now has a new and dynamic management team following a capital injection\nby Abraaj Capital, a large Dubai-based private equity firm, which holds a significant shareholding\nin the power utility. KESC is listed on the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges.\n\nSalient features of the MOU\n\n- KESC is embarking on a fast-track programme to overcome the existing and projected energy\n shortage within its licensed area. These cover Karachi and its suburbs up to Dhabeji and Gharo in\n Sindh as well as Hub, Uthal, Vinder and Bela in Baluchistan. The utility has declared its\n intention to develop and implement several power projects including, but not limited to, coal-\n fired power plant(s).\n\n- Oracle has proposed to KESC the establishment of a coal-fired power plant, with an initial\n capacity of 300MW and the potential to increase this to 1,100 MW. The power plant will be fuelled\n by lignite coal to be mined from the Company's Block VI project in the Thar Coalfield in the\n Province of Sindh. Sindh Carbon Energy Limited, Oracle's local subsidiary, will operate the Block\n VI coal mine.\n\n- Oracle has agreed to secure and provide to KESC long-term coal supply a...