Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Quaid e Azam Solar Park

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Country
  
Pakistan

Construction began
  
End 2014

Type
  
Flat-panel PV

Construction cost
  
150 million USD (phase I)

Location
  
Bahawalpur, Punjab

Commission date
  
2015 (phase I)

Site area
  
26.3 km²

Status
  
Phase I (100 MW) completed Phase II (300 MW) commissioning Phase III (600 MW) planned

Address
  
Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Plant, Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park Rd, 63100, Pakistan

Hours
  
Open today · 6AM–7:30PMTuesday6AM–7:30PMWednesday6AM–7:30PMThursday(Pakistan Day)6AM–7:30PMHours might differFriday6AM–7:30PMSaturday6AM–7:30PMSunday6AM–7:30PMMonday6AM–7:30PMSuggest an edit

Similar
  
Suki Kinari Hydropower Project, Karot Hydropower Project, Nandipur Power Project, Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant, Diamer‑Bhasha Dam

Quaid e azam solar park bahawalpur


The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station under construction in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan, named in honor of Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan. Once fully completed by the end of 2016 it will have the capacity to generate 1,000 MW.

Contents

The first 100 MW were commissioned in May 2015, and were completed by Tebian Electric Apparatus, a subsidiary of Xinjiang SunOasis. The remaining 900 MW capacity will be installed by Zonergy under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Carbon emissions are expected to be 90,750 tons per year less than if the 1,000 MW of electricity were generated by conventional fossil fuel sources. Another 300 MW were connected to the grid in June 2016.

Details

The first 100 MW project is owned 100% by the Quaid e Azam Solar Power Pvt. Ltd. The project is purely in IPP mode and the financing is obtained from a local bank the Bank of Punjab. The turnkey contractor for the project is TBEA Xinjiang SunOasis Co. Ltd. The installation of the plant was completed within a record time of 3 months (Nov 2014 to Jan 2015).

The phase I, 100 MW site is 500 acres (200 ha), hosting 392,158 solar modules of 255 Wp each, 100 centralised inverters 1 MW each, 100 transformers 1 MVA each at 33kV. And 2 transformers 100 MVA each at 132 kV in a 100 MVA substation. The electrical output is being connected to a 132kV transmission line that runs through the Solar Park. Currently the transmission line has a capacity of up to 400 MW and the utility company is in the process of upgrading its capacity to 1,000 MW.

The project started generating 100 MW of power in April 2015. The first phase was built for a cost of about $131 million. Once completed, the project will generate more than the current 550 MW installed capacity in the Topaz Solar Farm and the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in California. The project's expected completion in 2016 would make it the largest photovoltaic power station.

The government has invited investors to invest here for the balance 900 megawatts, in which several local and international companies will establish projects. Several domestic and international investors have been granted LOIs to start the process of establishment of solar plants on IPP (independent power producer) basis.

The Government of Pakistan announced a new upfront feed in tariff for solar power plants in January 2015, where the investors will be able to sell electricity to the national grid at between 14 and 15 US cents per kWh. The announcement of this tariff and the completion of the first 100 MW at Bahawalpur has caused a great interest on the part of investors.

In May 2016, the owner, Quaid-i-Azam Solar Power (pvt) Limited, claimed that the first phase 100 MW is yielding about 169 GW·h yearly, better than the stated target of annually 153 GW·h. The chief executive officer of the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Power suggested that panels in Pakistan would produce 33% more power than in Germany, considering solar radiation and temperature. It was also said that the average efficiency of the 100MW phase, over the years, was 80% with average 20% plant losses and that the DC plant values would suffer 20% losses because of conversion into AC. More, that irradiation at an installed plant in Pakistan was 1,920 kW·h/m2, more than in India, China, Germany and Spain. Second phase of 300 MW was reaching commissioning. A 220 kV grid station is being built for transmitting the last phase 600 MW generation.

Turkish company Zorlu Enerji Holding

In January 2017, ZEH and Punjab government inked a deal for the establishment of 100-megawatt power plant at Quid-e-Azam solar park in Bahawalpur by June 2017. In February 2017, ZEH announced it will set up another 200-megawatt solar power plant at Quid-e-Azam solar park in Bahawalpur by December 2017. The provincial authorities did not reveal the cost of the two deals.

Allegation of corruption against local contractors

It was reported a case of embezzlement, with regard to the sale of the trees felled to make space for the plant. Hired contractors allegedly sold the trees in the open market rather than in an auction by the energy department.

References

Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park Wikipedia