Jhimpir project starts producing wind energy

CM expects Sindh to produce 1,200MW of clean energy by year-end

KARACHI: The 50-megawatt Jhimpir wind power project has started commercial operations in a landmark achievement as Pakistan gradually moves to ramp up renewable energy generation in keeping with the world trend and to bridge the domestic shortfall.

This is the first project of Burj Capital, a Dubai-based investment company, in its 500MW renewable asset platform in Pakistan, according to a statement issued on Wednesday. The power project in Jhimpir, which got wind turbines from General Electric Renewable Energy, is in the Gharo-Keti Bandar wind corridor in southeast Pakistan that is a high-quality wind resource capable of generating over 50,000MW of clean and affordable electricity.

The wind corridor coupled with solar power can be further developed into a resource of national importance in order to reduce the country’s reliance on expensive imported fuels and provide people with clean and cheap electricity.

Commenting on the occasion, Burj Capital Founder and Group CEO Saad Zaman said: “This is only the start, however, we have a lot more in store for Pakistan. We are at the cusp of an energy revolution that will take Pakistan from being an energy-poor nation to an energy-rich one.”

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution, is the only institution that has provided debt for the project and has financed five projects, with cumulative capacity of about 250MW, in the Gharo-Keti Bandar wind corridor.

OPIC President and CEO Ray W Washburne said “the provision of reliable electricity is an essential building block of any economy. OPIC is proud of its partnership with Burj Capital … to bring reliable energy generation to the people of Pakistan.”

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the launch of Jhimpir power project at a hotel in Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared that the promise he had made to generate 1,000MW of renewable energy by the end of his tenure had come true as clean energy generation reached 930MW and by December this year it would be around 1,200MW.

He emphasised that root cause of the power crisis was the undefined, defective and unworkable power policy, particularly for domestic resources. The chief minister pointed out that he had been working on promoting alternative energy and two out of three projects had started running in Jhimpir.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2018.

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