Sindh commissions 350MW solar parks to power Karachi

KARACHI: Government of Sindh will install two solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 350 megawatts (MW) to produce clean as well as cost-efficient electricity to meet Karachi’s power needs, a statement said on Friday.

The project, funded by World Bank (WB), are being developed under Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP), with K-Electric (KE) being the buyer as well as the distributor of the power produced at these solar parks.

Abu Bakar Madani, Secretary Sindh Energy Department, Monis Alvi, Chief Executive Officer KE, and Najy Benhassine, Country Director WB for Pakistan, inked the agreement.

The accord aims at developing and implementing sustainable, cost-effective, and competitive utility-scale Independent Power Producers in Karachi under a competitive bidding structure.

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, who oversaw the signing, said, “The development of 350MW solar parks, a big project of affordable, transparent and environmentally-friendly energy project for Karachi, is great and good news”.

“One 175MW solar park will be built over 600 acres in Deh Halkani, Manghopir, district West, while the second, having the same generation capacity will be built on the same acreage in Deh Shah Mureed district Malir.”

Sheikh said the cost of these two solar gardens was estimated at 40 million each and these two would have a total generation capacity of 350 MW and would be completed in two years to provide affordable, transparent and eco-friendly electricity to the citizens of Karachi.

Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company will lay the transmission line for these both solar parks, while KE will build the electric grid station and purchase electricity from these power producers, according to Sindh energy minister.

He said cheap electricity would reduce the tariff and provide cheap electricity to the citizens and added that provincial government was working expeditiously on transparent sources of energy in accordance with global environmental protocols and solar park projects would also be launched for other cities.

Moonis Alvi, CEO KE, said environment and sustainability were integral parts of KE’s strategy, focused on mitigating the impact of carbon and increasing the utility’s clean energy footprint. “We follow Environment and Sustainability Management Systems (ESMS) to ensure our business activities have a minimal harmful impact on our surroundings,” Alvi said.

Attending the meeting via video-link, Najy Benhassine, Country Director for the World Bank Pakistan, said, “Transitioning to renewable energy offers Pakistan the potential to reduce its generation costs, diversify away from imported fossil fuels, and realise climate change, air pollution, and water conservation benefits”.

He said Sindh was key to increasing the share of renewable energy generation in Pakistan and developing new ways of providing electricity access.

“This engagement between the World Bank, K-Electric, and the Sindh Energy Department, under the auspices of the Sindh Solar Energy Project, could provide a replicable model for expanding renewable energy and access to electricity in Sindh Province and Pakistan,” Benhassine added.