Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park

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Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park
Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is located in Pakistan
Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park
Location of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park in Pakistan
Country Pakistan
Location Bahawalpur, Punjab
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Status Phase I (100 MW) completed
Phase II (300 MW) commissioning
Phase III (600 MW) planned
Construction began End 2014
Commission date 2015 (phase I)
Construction cost $150 million (phase I)
Solar field
Type Flat-panel PV
Collectors 392,158 (phase I)
Site area 6,500 acres (2,600 ha)[1]
Site resource 1920 kWh/m2/yr
Power generation
Units operational 100 (phase I)
Nameplate capacity 1000 MW (planned)[2][3]
Annual generation 1530 GW·h (expected)
Website
qasolar.com

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.

The first 100 MW were commissioned in May 2015,[4] and were completed by Tebian Electric Apparatus, a subsidiary of Xinjiang SunOasis.[5] The remaining 900 MW capacity will be installed by Zonergy under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.[5] Carbon emissions are expected to be 90,750 tons less than if the 1,000 MW of electricity were generated by conventional fossil fuel sources.[5]

Details

The first 100 MW project is owned 100% by the Quaid e Azam Solar Power Pvt. Ltd., a for profit company 100% owned by the Government of Punjab.[6] 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.[2][3] 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.[7] 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.[5] 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.[4]

The government has invited investors to invest here for the balance 900 megawatts, in which several local and international companies will establish projects.[8][9] 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 to 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.

On November 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.[10]

December 2015, Journalist Anwer Hussain Sumra, on Exposed, a show on Dawn News, has stated that “The solar park is producing only 18 megawatt of electricity instead of the 100 megawatt that was promised by the provincial government”. Energy expert and a leader of Jamat e Islami Palak party, Arshad Abbasi added that: “Bahawalpur’s climate is not suitable for the project. The temperature rises above 45 degrees Celsius which does not produce the required amount of electricity”. Furthermore, it has been constructed on a wildlife park, which has disturbed the bio-diversity of the area. Government spokeperson Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri, said that the government is privatising the solar park: “We are divesting the equity from this project, so that we can invest that money in upcoming energy projects”.[6]

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 a auction by the energy department.[11]

See also

References

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