Punjab cabinet approves privatization of 100 MW solar park in Pakistan

The government of Pakistan´s Punjab province and Chief Minister Shahbaz have unanimously approved privatization of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Ltd. The 100 MW power plant owned by the government has brought revenue of more than $19,000 so far, local authorities announced on Sunday. Shabaz said that with the privatization more profit can be earned from this project besides expenditures.

According to the chief minister, investors have expressed interest in the acquisition of the 500 acre Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park. He also claimed that the privatization of this project will be transparent for the public. In October 2015, Pakistani newspapers wrote about the illegal selling of disposing of ‘keekar’ trees worth ten thousands of dollars from the solar park´s vast area by contractors hired by a foreign company.

The 100 MW solar park represents the first phase of a 1 GW PV project to power up to 100,000 homes in the Punjab region. A year later, the second 300 MW phase was already connected to the grid. So far, however, plans for the remaining 600 MW of the third phase, meant to be developed in 2016, have not yet left the drawing board.