Mega solar: Pakistan, China building world's largest solar project
By William Pentland
Pakistan and China recently completed the first phase of a mega-solar power project in the desert region of the Punjab.
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Artist rendering of Pakistan's first large-scale solar power project, Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur. |
The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park (QASP), named after Pakistan's founding father, currently has a capacity of about 100 megawatts (MW). When the project is complete in 2017, it will have a total of 5.2 million photovoltaic (PV) cells with a gigawatt (GW) of solar PV capacity installed, according to China Dialogue.
The first phase of the solar PV project was constructed by Chinese company SunOasis in just three months, at a cost of around $130 million. The first phase of QASP was completed in August and is currently selling electricity into Pakistan's national power grid.
The QASP solar farm is the first energy project to be constructed under the $46 billion program called the "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor." The program is funding projects that will facilitate linkages between the port at Gwadar in southern Pakistan with Kashgar in China's western region of Xinjiang.
The Cholistan desert in the Punjab, where the QASP facility is located, receives 13 hours of sunlight every day.
The Chinese company, Zonergy, recently began work on the second phase of the QASP facility. Expanding power generation is a major priority for Pakistan, which has suffered from severe energy shortages for years. In some rural parts of Pakistan, power is only available for a few hours a day.
With an installed electricity generation capacity of about 23 GW, Pakistan's national supply of electricity is significantly below its demand.
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