The Sindh Cabinet has approved the allotment of 5,801 acres of land to National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and 10 private firms on 30-year lease to install renewable power plants and National Grid Station.
The allotments of land would be carried out in accordance with the guidance of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The allotment of 5,801 acres of land to 10 power companies, including NTDC would fetch Rs9.13 billion, the cabinet was informed.
The moot also allowed the operators of renewable power plants to install other power plants if they so desire subject to the fulfillment of government requirements and clearance of lease money.
According to Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, a number of 10 renewable power companies, wind and solar, and NTDC have applied for allotment of land measuring 5801 acres for installation of wind and solar projects in Sindh’s three districts, Thatta, Dadu, and Jamshoro.
Seven projects would be installed in Thatta district, one in Dadu and two in Jamshoro.
The concerned deputy commissioners have reported availability of land and have also suggested annual lease money at a rate of RS3000, Rs5000 and Rs8000 per acre per annum for different categories of land.
Senior Member Board of Revenue (BoR) Kazi Shahid Pervez told the cabinet that the land could be allotted as per guidance of the Supreme Court. The cabinet approved the allotment of land and directed SMBR to make necessary arrangements.
Sindh is becoming a center of alternate energy projects and a month earlier the Sindh government moved to solarise the entire province under $100mln World Bank project.
Titled as the Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP), assisted by the World Bank, it will help electrify the province one hundred percent while offering the most affordable power tariffs to the consumers, Imtiaz Shaikh claims.
“The $100 million project will benefit every Pakistani in terms of decreased basket price of electricity that will be made available to the consumers following its (project’s) execution.”
The project was conceived by the provincial government to utilize the maximum potential of the province to produce power through renewable means of energy abundantly available here.”
The SSEP is a World Bank-funded project that aims at installing solar systems on rooftops on all government buildings in Karachi and Hyderabad, deploying solar home systems in rural households (200,000 in the first phase) through the off-grid method, and installing a utility-scale solar power system in the province of 400 megawatts.
The Sindh government would formally sign the contract agreements with the firms to initiate household energy surveys and rooftop building surveys at a ceremony to be held at the Chief Minister House.
Sindh government was fully facilitating the installation of new wind energy projects in the Jhimpir wind corridor as 12 such projects had recently signed energy purchase agreements with the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), the minister added.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has awarded the license to Sindh Transmission and Despatch Company (STDC) to act as the country’s first-ever provincial grid company.
“Once the license is awarded to the STDC, it will lay its own transmission lines and construct grid stations for the evacuation of electricity from the upcoming renewable projects to be installed in the province.”
Oliver Knight, senior energy specialist at World Bank, says the pilot project to solarize homes through off-grid system would initially be implemented in ten districts of the province and later this initiative would also be introduced in other towns of the province.
The World Bank had accorded approval to the project, Knight said and added that a proper survey would be conducted to carefully select the government buildings in Karachi and Hyderabad to install solar systems on their rooftops.
SSEP has the potential of producing 500 to 700MWs through a distributed generation system.

The Federation of Engineering Institutions of Islamic Countries (FEIIC) approved and thus inaugurated ‘Engineers Register’ in its executive committee held in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last month.
A member of the EC of the federation Engr. Sohail Bashir said the register would be confirmed very soon now.
The Council of the federation at its 32nd FEIIC Council Meeting in Makkah on January 8, 201, had agreed to the formation of the FEIIC Engineers Register (FER) for qualified Professional Engineers.
FER is benchmarked against similar Professional Engineer Registrations at the international level. An engineer applying for registration under FER shall have qualified and obtained a Professional Engineer (PEng) qualification in their respective jurisdictions which is of equivalent professional standard as the FEIIC Makkah Accord or the International Professional Engineers Agreement (IPEA) in the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) or the Euro Engineer of FEANI in Europe.
Chairman IEP Karachi Chapter, Engr Sohail Bashir told Enginering Review that the register was aimed at facilitating the mobility of engineers in member countries.
Now they require no registration in any country if they want to launch consultancy services or seek employment. This is like the International Register and is limited to Islamic countries.
The meeting also moved on to the capacity building of engineers in member countries under the Madina Accord which is pertaining to accreditation in Islamic Countries.
Malaysian Society of Engineering, Science and Technology will be the custodian of the register and also the society will be responsible to maintain it.
During the session, Engr Bashir said a number of engineers were registered as founding members which include 10 to 12 Pakistani engineers. They include Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), IEP Chairman, Secretary General, Vice Chairman, Chairman IEP Karachi Center, Vice Chancellor NED University and others.
The federation had also scheduled a workshop under the Engineering Qualification, Accreditation and Professional Systems (EQAPS) project which is meant to enhance the capacity in the Muslim countries so as to meet the requirements of the education for Washington Accord.
Since Washington Accord is expensive and not every Muslim country can afford it, FEIIC has taken this responsibility to build capacity at affordable rates.
After Engineers Register, the engineers from other Muslim countries need not to register with the engineering regulatory body of the host country. However, the work permit would be required anyway.