The solar solution

Pakistan would appear to be an ideal candidate for photovoltaic power generation.

Taken as a whole, Pakistan sees nine hours of sunshine a day on average and would appear to be an ideal candidate for photovoltaic power generation. This is particularly so, as much of our power is currently generated using oil, which is the most expensive method of producing electricity known to man. Solar power units have been in Pakistan on a limited scale since the mid-1980s but there has never been a major push to exploit our considerable potential for the production of power from a renewable source other than hydro. That now seems as if it will change and the announcement of a major solar power project at Noor Sar village in Cholistan near Bahawalpur could be the start of something very big indeed.

South Punjab has long been something of a development backwater. Bahawalpur is relatively prosperous, but much of the rest of the region lacks even the basic necessities and jobs outside of agriculture are hard to come by. The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Energy Project will cost Rs200 billion, will have the capacity to generate 1,000MW of electricity and will be delivering 100MW into the national grid by the end of the first quarter of 2014. The project will generate jobs, encourage the growth of business in the area and will be linked to an upgrading of the local airport. New hotels are reportedly in the pipeline — the area has considerable tourist potential for the six cooler months of the year — and will be a significant boost to the local economy in the years it will take to construct. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the biggest project in the history of Bahawalpur and may go some way to mitigate the many grievances of those who complain of a lack of investment in the region. The project will be sans political appointees, according to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and local people will get the first chance when it comes to recruitment — which will be a first if true. Renewable energy really is the way forward, and going solar is the clearest route.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2013.

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