Lucky Cement activates 34MW solar plant

Project is expected to produce 48GWh annually

ISLAMABAD:

Lucky Cement has successfully switched on its 34 megawatts (MW) captive solar power plant at its manufacturing site in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), reducing its energy cost significantly and helping cut the country’s energy import bill as well.

“We are pleased to inform that the installation of the 34 MW captive solar power plant, at our manufacturing site at Pezu, KP, has been completed within the planned project timelines,” Company GM Finance and Secretary Faisal Mahmood said in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday.

The solar power plant has been successfully commissioned and is fully operational with effect from December 29, 2022.

The 34 MW solar PV project is expected to produce approximately 48 GWh (Gigawatt hours) annually.

“The output energy will be used on-site resulting in substantial savings for the company in cost of energy and will also cut around 29,569 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions annually,” according to the company’s Annual Report for 2022.

This will improve the reliability of the power system by “shutting down 20 MW of fossil fuel generation during the daytime whilst keeping the critical spinning reserve intact. Storage builds flexibility into the system, and allows a quick response in case of power faults.”