Energy shortfall: ‘Solar power projects will help end outages'

Gorchani lauds govt’s efforts to overcome energy crisis.

LAHORE: Provincial Assembly Acting Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani on Friday lauded the government’s efforts to overcome the energy crisis by completing solar power projects with Chinese assistance.

He was speaking to journalists at the Provincial Assembly. Gorchani said solar power projects would prove to be game-changers in the nation. He said the $46 billion-Pakistan-China Economic Corridor project would rewrite the destiny of the nation.



Gorchani said the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park was the largest project of its kind in the world. He said the government had reiterated its commitment to overcoming the major challenges confronting the nation including terrorism and the energy shortfall. Gorchani said solar power projects would eradicate the scourge of load shedding. He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had initiated various projects to provide relief to the people.

The acting speaker said the 100MW-unit that was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park had been completed in a remarkably short span of time. He praised the government on this account. Gorchani said another 900MW-solar power project would be completed in one-and-a-half year with Chinese assistance.

He said the federal and provincial governments would establish a 1,200 and a 2,400MW-LNG-fired power project in the Punjab. Gorchani said the projects would start functioning in 2017-2018.

He said generating power from solar energy was cheaper than using conventional sources such as oil, gas and coal. “The government is working on a war footing to curb the energy shortfall,” Gorchani said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2015.