First photovoltaic solar plant starts power output

LAHORE: One of the world’s biggest photovoltaic solar power plant, having 100 megawatts capacity, have fully been connected to the national grid, initiating a transformational change in the energy mix in Pakistan by embracing green energy.
The first ever utility scale solar power plant in the country has been set up in a record time by Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Ltd, a public sector company, in Cholistan Desert of Bahawalpur, southern Punjab.
The power evacuation from the solar plant has started on trial basis, energizing national grid with impressive peak output of up to 84MW out of 100mw installed capacity.
An official associated with the project said they are able to generate sizeable clean power from indigenous resource from 7am to 6pm. “Before launching of this project, there was not a single commercial solar power plant in the country and this first leap into green energy proved a record breaking venture due to its scale and installation in record time,” the official said.
When this project was conceived about 15 months back, there was not a single solar photovoltaic project of 100mw working in the world.
“As far as speed of the work is concerned, the workforce at project site did manage installation of solar panels having 2.5mw in just 24 hours which is yet another record,” the official said.
“The solar project becoming a reality is not less than a miracle, keeping in view overall state of affairs of power sector in the country.”
Jehanzeb Khan, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy) termed accomplishment of this initiative a transformational project, paving the way of harnessing untapped abundant solar power in the country.
“This solar plant gives us confidence that we can accomplish such task in a given timeframe, strengthening project management skills.
It is a unique project in the sense that we involved Chinese manufacturing and human resource abilities along with German knowhow in order to ensure early completion of project with unmatched quality of work,” Khan said.
Najam Ahmed Shah, chief executive officer QA Solar told The News that the solar energy opened a new vista for Pakistan for meeting electricity needs. Talking about completion of the project, he said: “we have been able to successfully meet a highly aggressive and challenging timeline, especially the deployment of foreign consultants and hundreds of workers in a remote area.” He said with the installation of QA Solar, a new wave of investment in solar sector is being witnessed in the remaining blocks of Energy Park set up by the provincial government in Bahawalpur.
In the year 2013, the Punjab government dedicated 10,000 acres of land in Cholistan, near Bahawalpur and established a Solar Park.
This has been dubbed as an initiative to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in generation of electricity and to overcome the ever widening gap between energy production and demand.
Out of this solar park, 500 acres of land was allocated to set up the first pilot project of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Ltd to install the first 100 MW PV Plant.
The EPC contract was awarded to TBEA Xinjiang SunOasis Co. Ltd, a renowned company from China.