Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park: Solar energy’s 100MW to arrive in April

Entity’s CEO hopes of initiating supply after delays.

LAHORE: The production of 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from solar resources will be available for consumers in April.

Earlier, the chief minister of Punjab announced the 100MW generation from indigenous resources would be added to the grid till the end of December 2014.

Scheduled for the first quarter of 2014, the project, at a total cost of $131 million, will see got delayed due to a Chinese firm failing to fulfil criteria during the due-diligence process carried out by the Punjab government, an official of the energy department told The Express Tribune, requesting anonymity.

The Punjab government announced the establishment of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park over an area of 5,000 acres in the Cholistan Development Authority in Bahawalpur. The company was registered under the company act with the SECP. In October 2013, Najam Ahmad Shah was posted as the CEO of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Company on a deputation basis.

From the 12 companies that applied for pre-qualification for the project, three – namely Chint, Tibea and Sumec – were shortlisted.

The company sent its team of experts to China for the due-diligence process of Chint. However, after an assessment, the entity did not quality and the second entity for review, Tibea, was awarded the contract after its credentials fulfilled criteria, said the official.

The priority of the Punjab government regarding the production of electricity has kept changing — focusing first on hydel, shifting to solar and now diverting attention to thermal (coal-) based projects. However, not a single megawatt has been added to the national grid so far, lamented the official.

In October 2013, the CM, while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the power project, announced that the solar park had the capacity to generate 1,000MW, which later got re-iterated to 100MW.

Shah added that hopefully, the 100MW would be ready for the national transmission system by the first week of April.

trade.Published in The Express Tribune, March  27^th,  2015.

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