The US' General Electric Company (GE) has joined the sponsors of a 586- MW power station at Uch, Baluchistan, as investment partner and turnkey contractor. The project is to become the first private power scheme after the Hub project, following the initialling of the two project agreements with the government in early July.

General Electric Financing (GE Financing), part of GE's investment arm, and the local Hasan Associates have joined the investment group for the $650 million scheme as equity partners. GE will also supply the turbines and other major equipment and carry out most of the work through a turnkey consortium with GE subsidiaries. The other sponsors are Central Power, a subsidiary of the UK's Midlands Electricity Board, and Tenaska International and Hawkins Oil & Gas, both of the US (17:6:94).

The project received the official go-ahead with the initialling of the power purchase and implementation agreements. In these, the government commits itself to a power purchase price close to $0.9 a kWh for the first 10 years of operation, and $0.65 thereafter. It also guarantees regular payments by Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA), which buys the power for distribution, and regular fuel supplies of low-BTU gas from Uch gas field.