Pakistan's Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has launched a new tender for the development of a 600 MW solar power project in Punjab state's Kot Addu/Muzaffargarh district on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.
Project will be set up for a concession term of 25 years and bids open to private sector investors/entrepreneurs. Site has been selected due to its proximity to existing grid infrastructure and water availability.
AEDB said site resource assessment, logistics and geotechnical studies have already been carried out.
Launched in February 2023, the deadline for bid submission has been extended to May 8, 2023 from April 17, 2023. Details are available on AEDB website.
Pakistan's ageing electricity network has led to power outages earlier this year with reportedly no connectivity for over 12 hours across the nation. High prices of imported fossil fuels in the international markets means high electricity tariffs and drain of foreign exchange, explains AEDB.
Due to this, Pakistan aims to substitute expensive imported fossil fuels with solar PV, aiming for around 6 GW large scale solar PV capacity to be developed on BOOT basis.
According to the country's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC, Pakistan attempts to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix to 60% by 2030, up from 5% in 2019 and completely ban imported coal. It counts the country's solar and wind potential as over 40 GW. As per the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Pakistan cumulative installed solar PV capacity till the end of 2022 was 1.243 GW.
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