Renewable power projects succeed getting over 5,800 acres in Sindh Seven projects would be installed in Thatta district, one in Dadu and two in Jamshoro

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.