SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN A CPEC COAL-FIRED POWER PROJECT: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS AND DOCUMENT-BASED CASE STUDY OF THE SAHIWAL POWER PLANT

Abstract

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has played an important role in strengthening energy infrastructure and economic cooperation between China and Pakistan. Among its major energy projects, the Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Plant is strategically significant because of its contribution to addressing Pakistan’s electricity shortages and supporting industrial development. However, the supply chain management of imported-coal power plants remains an underexplored area, particularly in relation to how broader research trends can be connected to plant-level operational practices. This study examines supply chain management in the power generation sector by integrating bibliometric analysis with a document-based case study of the Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Plant. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using publications from IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Wiley, and Emerald covering the period from 2014 to 2024. VOSviewer was used to analyse publication trends, journal distribution, keyword co-occurrence, and author collaboration patterns. The case study component draws on publicly available project and industry documentation to examine supply chain management practices related to procurement, inventory management, transportation logistics, supplier relationships, performance monitoring, risk management, and sustainability. The bibliometric findings identify major research themes, including reliability and monitoring, decarbonisation, optimization under uncertainty, demand response, coal-fired technology, and smart grid systems. The case analysis indicates that the Sahiwal plant reflects several of these themes through its strategic supplier partnerships, multimodal coal transportation, inventory planning, performance monitoring, and coal-ash management practices. The study contributes by linking macro-level supply chain management research patterns with micro-level operational practices in a coal-fired power project. The findings provide practical implications for improving supply chain resilience, operational efficiency, and sustainability in power generation supply chains.