Tarbella-Ghazi Barotha
complex to have Pakistan’s first
Floating Solar Project

Pakistan and World Bank (WB) are set to begin negotiations this month for a 300 Megawatt Floating Solar Project at Tarbella-Ghazi Barotha Complex, reports say. This will be the very first project of this kind in Pakistan.
The bank has already invited Pakistani authorities for negotiation on a US$341.5 million loan for the project that will add to the country’s efforts to gradually switch over to cleaner technologies being encouraged worldwide to face the challllenge of climate change.
These projects are supposed to supply emission-free electricity to meet peak daytime demand in summers and facilitate storage of water in the complex to meet peak demand in winters.
The invitation for talks arrived through the World Bank’s Acting Country Director, Gailius Draugelis who wrote to Secretary Economic Affairs, stating that on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) collectively, the World Bank, is inviting Pakistan and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to negotiate the proposed IBRD loan and IDA credit for the Floating Solar in Pakistan Project.
The cost of the project is US$346-5 million, of which US$341.5 is proposed for financing by the World Bank and $5 million will be financed by WAPDA, as the Project Implementing Entity, the report added.
The negotiations package mentions an indicative allocation of US$170.5 million as a loan from IBRD and US$171 million as credit from IDA. These allocations will be adjusted before or during the negotiations based on the agreement between the Ministry of Economic Affairs, WAPDA, and the World Bank.
The proposed project’s development objective is to increase clean energy from the Tarbela-Ghazi Barotha Complex, through the development of climate-smart, innovative floating solar and hydropower hybrid operations, to meet peak demand in Pakistan.
The proposed project will finance the installation of two 150 megawatts floating solar plants and their short interconnections to transmission infrastructure in the Tarbela Ghazi-Barotha Complex, environmental and social management instruments’ implementation, project management costs, and technical assistance activities. – ERMD/ER Report