Power project: Bahawalpur solar plant to start functioning in 2015: Shahbaz

CM says 49 sites have been selected to set up solar plants across the Punjab.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was financing a 100-megawatt power plant at the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur from its own resources.

Sharif was chairing a meeting convened to review progress on the project. He said plant was expected to start functioning in 2015. The chief minister said 49 sites had been selected to set up solar plants of various capacities across the Punjab. Sharif said work was being speedily completed on the project. He said the government had made history by paving the way for the establishment of a solar plant.

The chief minister said a plan had been formulated to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity at the park. He said 49 sites had been selected across Punjab for the establishment of small solar plants. The chief minister said the government would provide those investing in these plants with all kinds of facilities on a priority basis.  Sharif also directed the chairman of the Planning and Development Commission to formulate a plan to convert public hospitals, schools and tube wells to solar power.

He said the government had taken various initiatives to overcome the energy crisis. The chief minister said the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) sit-ins at Islamabad’s D-Chowk had hindered progress on power projects province-wide.

Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park Chief Executive Officer (CEO) briefed those present on the progress being made on the project.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2014.