BAHAWALPUR, Pakistan: Pakistan’s first ever 100-megawatt solar powered plant was inaugurated in the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park Bahawalpur by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a ceremony on Tuesday.
The total capacity of the park is 1,000 megawatt electricity after its completion in two years, and its first unit was completed with a cost of Rs15 billion in a short period of 11 months.
The electricity generated by the project will be added to the national grid through grid stations and power supply transmission lines.
On the occasion, the prime minister said while addressing the inaugural ceremony that the government is giving priority to overcome energy crisis and purge the country of terrorism and armed militias.
The prime minister said that several mega projects in the power sector have been launched which will help overcome power outages from the country by 2017-18.
Sharif said that 2,000 megawatt of electricity will be generated from the local coal of Thar while 3,600 megawatt of electricity will be generated through Liquefied natural gas (LNG). He said that Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park whose generation will be enhanced up to 900 megawatt will be the world’s biggest solar park.
The prime minister on the occasion announced Rs20 million reward for the workers of Quaid-e-Azam solar park.
Speaking on the occasion, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that China provided Rs2 billion concession on the project. He said that the project will start generating another 350 MW electricity from December this year.
Shahbaz Sharif said that on completion Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park will be the biggest solar power project in the world. The chief minister announced to set up an industrial estate in Bahawalpur.
The acting Governor Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong were also present on the occasion besides a number of Federal and provincial ministers.
