ISLAMABAD: Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) (Genco-III) Muzaffargarh has sought permission from the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) to establish 250MWp solar power plant at its existing facility on the basis of Public Private Partnership (PPP).
This proposal has been sent by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NPGCL, SabeehUz Zaman Faruqi to the Ministry of Energy (MoE). NPGCL has submitted the plan in response to November 10, 2021 directions issued by MoE (Power Division) with regard to the discussion points of the meeting of the delegation of GHCL and NPGCL (GENCO-III) held on September 24, 2021 with the then Secretary (Power Division) and other higher officials of this Division.
The NPGCL was required to submit a formal proposal for solar power plant at TPS Muzaffargarh. In this regard, the Board of Directors of NPGCL in its meeting held on January 10, 2022 deliberated upon concept paper for installation of 250MWp solar power plant at Muzaffargarh. For this purpose, sufficient land is available with the Company at Muzaffargarh which is atmospherically ideal for solar power generation. Moreover, the available structure/facilities available at TPS Muzaffargarh may also be utilized in this regard.
According to CEO, the Company intends to initiate the project through a joint venture/public private partnership. The Board of Directors has discussed this proposal and has decided to forward the proposal to MoE (Power Division) for its endorsement. The Board has passed the following resolution: “Resolved that the concept paper/proposal for installation of 250 MWp solar power plant at existing facility of TPS Muzaffargarh through joint venture/public private partnership and approved for onward submission to Ministry of Energy (Power Division) for necessary evaluation and concurrence.”
A concept paper/proposal to this effect has also been shared with the Ministry of Energy for necessary evaluation at Ministry’s end. If the Ministry endorses this concept paper, the Company would conduct a formal feasibility study and would also arrange the assessment of location by Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) for the purpose of installation of solar power plant at the existing facility of TPS Muzaffargarh.
“We wish to reiterate again that no amount of public fund will be required for this project and it will be initiated as a joint venture. If the proposal is accepted the Ministry would be informed at every step through GHCL regarding the progress being made by the company,” said the CEO.
NPGCL has already submitted the employees’ data as well as a pre-feasibility study for mid country power in-feed for transmission system’s stability for consideration by Ministry. The CEO NGGCL has also requested for a meeting in the following week so as to find a way forward to this effect.
“We therefore, request that an appointment may kindly be given for an early meeting with a short delegation of NPGCL and GHCL led by Chairman BoD NPGCL,” the CEO further requested. Pakistan receives about 15.5x1014 kWh of solar irradiance each year with most regions receiving approximately eight to 10 sunlight hours per day.
The total power generation capacity of solar photovoltaic power is estimated to be 1600GW per year, a figure approximately 40 times that of current power demand in the country. To summarize, the sun shines for 250-300 days per year in Pakistan, averaging 8-10 sun shine hours per day. This gives huge amount of energy to be used for electricity generation by solar thermal power plants.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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