On a bright November morning in 2019, the port city of Gwadar buzzed with rare excitement. Federal ministers, Chinese officials, and local leaders gathered under a sprawling marquee near the Arabian Sea to announce what many believed would change the city’s destiny—a 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant. Costing an estimated $542 million and backed by the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the project promised not just electricity, but a lifeline for a city that had long been running on sputtering diesel generators and imported Iranian power. The vision was grand: enough energy to light up 150,000 homes and businesses, fuel industrial zones, and give Gwadar the infrastructure muscle it needed to realize its 2050 master plan.
The technical blueprint was equally ambitious. Designed as a super-critical plant running on imported coal, the project was to be executed by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and supervised by Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy and the Gwadar Port Authority. Construction was expected to generate more than 1,000 local jobs, and by late 2023, the turbines would hum to life, finally ending the city’s chronic power shortages.
But as the months turned into years, the promise began to flicker. Land for the plant was acquired in 2020, and a tariff decision had been approved as far back as 2019, yet the project never reached financial closure. The reasons were technical on paper but deeply political in reality. CHIC Pak Power Company (CPPCL), the project’s developer, found itself in a deadlock with Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) over tariff terms. The company argued that the agreed rates and conditions made the project financially unviable, especially with shifting coal prices and currency depreciation. They sought revisions, fee waivers, and an extension of their Letter of Support—but months of negotiations stalled without resolution.
By September 2024, the tone of official statements had shifted from optimism to warning. Engineering Post reported that without a tariff breakthrough, the project was on the verge of outright cancellation. As of early 2025, despite years of CPEC branding and political fanfare, Gwadar still remained off the national grid. The city continued to depend heavily on power imported from Iran—supply that was unreliable and occasionally cut off due to political disputes—forcing residents and businesses back onto expensive diesel generators.
The gap between the 2019 inauguration ceremony and today’s reality is not just about a delayed infrastructure project. It’s about the cost of stalled ambition. For shopkeepers on Marine Drive, it means closing early when the generators run dry. For fishing families, it’s the struggle to keep their catch fresh without stable refrigeration. For students, it’s nights spent studying under dim, battery-powered lights instead of the glow of a fan-cooled room.
The 300 MW plant was supposed to be a cornerstone in Gwadar’s transformation—a symbol of CPEC’s ability to deliver tangible change. Instead, it has become a case study in how complex financing, regulatory gridlock, and shifting economic tides can dim even the brightest of promises. Whether this project will roar back to life or fade into the long list of unrealized development dreams remains an open question. But for the people of Gwadar, the need is as urgent as ever: not just for power, but for the power to believe that change will actually come.
