Chinese firms propose setting up of 700MW project for two SEZs

BOI to help set up solar captive power plant

ISLAMABAD:

It is the government’s priority to ensure provision of uninterrupted and affordable energy to industries, remarked Minister of State and Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Atif R Bokhari.

Keeping the prime minister’s vision in view, he said, the BOI had taken the initiative to establish the first-ever solar captive power plant for the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the country.

In this regard, the BOI facilitated the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) between state-owned enterprises including the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC), Power China Jiangxi Electric Power Construction Co Ltd (JEPCC), a subsidiary of Power China, and Henan Zhonghui Electric Power Engineering and Consulting Co Ltd (HZEPEC), according to a statement issued by the BOI on Thursday.

BOI officials revealed that Chinese companies had proposed the setting up of a solar photovoltaic power project of 700 megawatts for the two SEZs of FIEDMC, namely the M3 Industrial City and the Allama Iqbal Industrial City.

The provisionally estimated total investment in the project is $630 million, wherein Chinese companies will be the financiers and the SEZ developer/FIEDMC can provide land on lease or can be an equity investment partner in the project.

Officials said the project would be completed in three phases as per the electricity demand of the SEZs, according to the statement. FIEDMC will meet the estimated power requirement of both the SEZs, along with the infrastructure inside and outside of the SEZs for power distribution.

There is a plan to adopt the build-own-lease-transfer (BOLT) cooperation model for the project, which will be the first BOLT programme in Pakistan. Officials said the MoU would pave the way for the SEZs to have their own captive power plants for interruptible, affordable and sustainable power supply.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2020.

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