At a time when Pakistan faces an energy crisis, the development finance institution of the UK government, British International Investment (BII) says 4 wind and solar power projects with a combined capacity of 250 MW, backed by the agency, have been commissioned in Pakistan.
The projects include a 100 MW solar power plant for which BII provided $28 million project financing. Atlas Solar PV Project is located in Punjab province of the country and was developed by local sponsor Atlas Group. Clean energy generated by the project is expected to increase electricity supply for some 113,700 residential consumers.
The other capacity has come online in the form of 3 projects with 50 MW capacity each, in Sindh region for which BII contributed $82 million. Altogether, the 250 MW grid connected capacity will supply power for some 440,000 residential consumers.
Calling Pakistan a priority investment market for its project finance offering and climate strategy, Iain Macaulay, BII's Director and Head of Project Finance, Africa and Pakistan, said, "These four renewable energy projects will help to improve the standard of living in Pakistan and uplift the lives of hundreds of thousands of consumers."
Local media reports suggest that Pakistan has been facing power cuts that go up to even 12 hours thanks to shortage of fuel and non-maintenance of existing power plants. At the same time, hydro power plants are not functioning fully due to shortfall of rain while heatwave this season has been brutal.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Pakistan's solar PV capacity at the end of 2021 stood at 1.08 GW out of 12.88 GW total renewable capacity most of which comes from hydropower at over 10 GW.
Nonetheless, Pakistan's National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) believes the country has the potential to install around 12.8 GW solar power capacity by 2030, and 27 GW by 2047 (see Pakistan Envisages Close To 27 GW Solar By 2047).