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Pakistan opens first solar power plant


Source : Daily Times    Date : 06-05-2015   

Pakistan opens first solar power plant
Pakistan opens first solar power plant

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday inaugurated the country’s first solar power plant, the latest fruit of increasingly close cooperation with China and a step towards an electoral promise to end crippling power cuts.

The solar park in Punjab province will produce 100 MW of power, which will be increased to 1,000 MW by next year.

The plant, owned by Punjab province and built by China’s Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co Ltd (TBEA), took a year to build at a cost of $190 million.

“Since I became prime minister, my one goal has been to eliminate darkness in Pakistan and bring lights back to the country,” Nawaz said in a speech.

“By 2017-2018, there will be an end to load shedding,” he said, referring to a system of rolling black-outs used to ration electricity.

The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, spread over 500 acres of sun-baked southern Punjab, is a link in an ambitious plan for a China-Pakistan economic corridor, unveiled by China’s President Xi Jinping last month.

The corridor, linking Pakistan’s Arabian sea port of Gwadar with western China’s Xinjiang region, includes energy and infrastructure projects worth up to $46 billion.

Camels and horses pranced to the beat of traditional drums as national flags fluttered over the inauguration ceremony.

China’s ambassador Sun Weidong said the plant marked a new phase of cooperation between the neighbours.

Nawaz said solar plants planned across the country would produce a total of 4,260 MW of power. He said his government came into power with a commitment to turn around country’s economy. He said by 2018, the people would witness major improvement in country’s infrastructure, electricity, gas supply and basic facilities.

He said his government from day one had only one objective and that was to end poverty, illiteracy and the ills that afflict the nation. He said one of the priorities of his government were to generate enough electricity so as to meet its present and future requirements. Another priority was to root out the menace of extremism and terrorism and make all cities and provinces of Pakistan safe and secure, he added.

The prime minister said by end of 2017, load shedding would end and 10,400 MW additional power would be available to help the industry work at its full capacity and generate jobs. He mentioned improvements in Pakistan’s economy and trade and said the world media too now recognises these successes.

Nawaz said the project showed the confidence of the investors in Pakistan’s economy. He recalled the recent visit of the Chinese president and the agreements and memorandums of understanding worth around US 46 billion inked during the visit. He said the solar project was part of the economic corridor and that he would personally visit all the projects to ensure their timely completion.

Nawaz said for the first time in the country’s history, democracy was delivering and the civil servants were working hard and serving the nation, which was a good precedent.

He said the solar project was not only the largest in the country, but also one of the biggest in the world and would energise the ongoing and future industrial projects across the country.

The prime minister said the project area that some time back had nothing but sand dunes, was now glistening with hundreds and thousands of solar panels that would add electricity to the national grid.

He said apart from this project, a power generation plant was being set up at Port Qasim, one at Thar Coal, another at Sahiwal, one 600 MW in Balochistan, besides more units at Azad Kashmir and other places. He said that 3600 MW power would be generated from LNG that would be imported.

Nawaz said situation in Karachi was now much better and target killings and kidnapping for ransom too were on decline. He said Karachi would again be peaceful. He, however, pointed that there was need for a better political situation.

 Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power (Pvt) Limited is a public-sector entity established by the Government of the Punjab, for setting up of renewable energy projects. The Punjab government has provided 10,000 acres for the project situated at LalSohanra in Cholistan, Bahawalpur.