The world continues to make progress towards a low-carbon economy by increasingly investing in renewable energy. Last year, according to UN figures, global investment in solar power, wind turbines and other renewable

forms of energy was $266 billion, more than double the investment of $130bn in coal and gas power stations. These investments are bound to increase this year, especially since the Paris Agreement signed last December. Hence, governments around the world aim to contain average global warming to around 1.5°C, mainly by reducing carbon dioxide emissions released in the combustion of fossil fuels.

In Pakistan, too, the government has invested in renewables like hydro power and now solar energy with the construction of the Quaid-i-Azam solar park in Bahawalpur which, when completed in 2018, will be a 1,000MW solar plant, the largest in the world. This large investment by the Punjab government, which has faced severe criticism in the media, is certainly a welcome addition to our energy mix as this is, after all, clean energy. In the future, solar, wind and hydro are what the country needs to be investing in as climate change will certainly wreak more havoc across the world and force countries to do more to mitigate carbon emissions.

The world’s largest solar park is under construction and making progress

On a recent visit to the solar park, we were told that Bahawalpur, located in Southern Punjab, is one of the best areas in the country for solar production outside of Balochistan. The land for the solar park, more than 6,500 acres were acquired from the Cholistan Development Authority and it borders the nearby Lal Suhanra National Park and the desert. There is some forested area visible near the solar park, which is completely fenced in and protected by heavy security. The officials of the solar park reassured us that no trees were cut during the construction of the park, although certainly some shrubs and vegetation were cleared, as this part is clearly not a part of the sandy desert ecosystem.

As for water needed to clean the solar panels in this dusty part of the country, there is a nearby canal but then the park officials later told us that they also pump out groundwater from tube wells, which is going to cause problems in the future when groundwater levels start falling.

A 15-minute drive from Bahawalpur airport, the park is easily accessible and a newly metalled road leads right up to it. The 100MW section of the park was completed and put into operation in 2015. We were informed that it now provides electricity to around 50,000 homes (through the national grid). The solar panels, which stretch for miles, all placed in neat rows were certainly an impressive sight. The total cost of the 100MW project was around $131 million (financed by the Punjab government and a commercial bank) for the 400,000 solar cells all set up with Chinese expertise. We were told that the installation cost comes to $1.3m per megawatt hour. “This is more expensive than a fossil fuel plant but then there are no further costs required in a solar plant which has a life of 25 years, whereas for the thermal plant you need to keep buying fuel,” pointed out Ahmed Shumail, the assistant manager at the solar park who gave us a formal presentation.

“The government introduced an alternative energy policy back in 2006 but there was no response from investors; so the Punjab government decided to go ahead with its own investment in the Quaid-i-Azam solar park by setting up a 100MW plant; this location was chosen due to its proximity to Bahawalpur, the availability of water (from the nearby canal) and grid connectivity. The idea behind it was to give an incentive to investors,” explained Sajad Sajid, the technical head of the plant.

That seems to have worked because an additional 300MW of phase II of the project are now being built by a Chinese firm and eventually this will go up to 600MW more to reach a total of 1,000MW. We came across several Chinese engineers working at the plant, some of whom could even speak Urdu. This is the first energy project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the government is determined to show it off as a success. “We have had no issues with the 100MW and now investors are lining up to complete the rest of the park — in fact, we have received requests for a total of 1,200MW; one billion dollars of foreign investment is coming in.”

There is an entire brigade deployed to protect the park and the Chinese workers and certainly the first 100MW are up and running, completed at a record time of around three months in 2015. At the control room inside the park, we were shown how at peak levels during the day, the production goes up to as high as 84MW. The DC generation is converted through an inverter and a transformer sends the electricity to a sub-station, which then feeds into the national grid. “The ideal temperature for peak production is 25°C on a cloudless day,” explained Ahmed Shumail, also a solar expert. “No solar plant can produce at full capacity. The capacity utilisation factor is 18pc for a 100MW solar plant since we only have 12 hours of sunshine here. For the Tarbela dam, which has hardly any water in winter, the capacity untilisation factor is 50pc.”

He further pointed out that many have confused this 18pc figure with MW production in the media, which is incorrect. “We are actually exceeding Nepra targets which were 153 gigawatt-hours by the end of the year, while we will reach 170 gigawatt-hours.” The solar plant will also be registered under the Clean Development Mechanism by the end of 2016 (after an on-site survey) and will be able to sell carbon credits to the open market. “We have calculated that we are saving 98,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually,” he added.

The other major criticism directed at the plant is the high tariff, which was 18 cents per kilowatt-hour that was approved when the solar plant first started and has come down to around 14 cents. Globally, this is now dropping to below 10 cents given the increasing trend of solar installations and production. “The first plant that was set up in Pakistan had higher risks hence the higher tariffs,” explained Viqar Zakriya, an independent energy consultant based in Islamabad.

While he is all for solar investment, his words of advice for the government are: “What I have been screaming for are subsidies for roof top solar panels. There are major advantages in setting up rooftop PV (photo voltaic) cells, which can complement the grid by feeding power back to it. What we need are feedback connections.” If the Punjab government can incentivise solar parks, why can’t they incentivise rooftop solar panels?

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 3rd, 2016