A joint China-Pakistan coal-fired power plant signs a loan contract with banks in southwest China's Sichuan Province on October 24, 2017. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

A joint China-Pakistan coal-fired power plant signed a loan contract with banks in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Hubco Coal Power Plant raised 1.5 billion U.S. dollars from a consortium of banks led by China Development Bank.

Construction of the power plant, costing about 2 billion U.S. dollars, began in March by China Power Hub Generation Company, a joint venture between Pakistan's Hub Power Holdings Ltd. and China Power International Investment Ltd.

With a total capacity of 1.32 gigawatts, the project comprises two coal-based power plants with capacity of 660 MW each.

The power plant is expected to start operations in August 2019, eventually producing 9 billion kwh, meeting needs of 4 million Pakistani households and create 10,000 jobs in the country.

It is also one of the projects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Gwadar Port.