BAHAWALPUR: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has inaugurated the country’s first solar power plant, Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, in Bahawalpur, which can produce 100MW electricity.
The Punjab government funded the plant, while China’s Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co Ltd took a year to build it with the cost of $190 million. Spread over 500 acres of sun-baked Bahawalpur district, is a link in an ambitious plan for a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, unveiled by China’s President Xi Jinping last month.
The plant is the first stage of a project that will eventually cover 10,000-plus acres of the central Cholistan desert and add 1,000MW to the national grid, making it one of the biggest solar parks in the world.
Flanked by Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Premier Nawaz reiterated his government’s resolve to “eliminate terrorism and energy crisis from the country”.
He lamented that many investors who desired to set up industries in Pakistan were discouraged because of the energy crisis. He said that 3,000 workers had been working on the solar park and 800 of them would work on a permanent basis. He also announced Rs20 million for all the 3,000 workers.
Pakistan has signed investment agreements with China to build various gas, coal and solar energy projects that will generate 16,400MW of electricity, roughly equivalent to the country’s entire current capacity.
