Local Coal versus Imported Coal on the Merit Order

Pakistan built two coal fleets for different reasons. The coastal and Punjab plants that burn imported coal were built quickly under CPEC to end load-shedding. The Thar plants were built to use a domestic lignite reserve that the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 puts at 175 billion tonnes. According to the survey, five Thar-coal IPPs totalling 3,300 MW have been commissioned through PPIB, including the 660 MW Lucky Electric plant at Port Qasim, which is listed among them.

Putting those numbers together gives a rough measure of how hard each fleet is working. Blending Thar lignite into imported-coal boilers is the government's way of giving the CPEC plants a domestic fuel without building new capacity. The survey also records a moratorium on processing new imported-fuel power projects in place for nearly a decade.