Wind Energy

First wind power plant in Pakistan

For the purpose Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim AS, a Turkish power utility, has won a $36.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to expand its wind farm in Pakistan.

The loan will help Zorlu Enerji install additional wind turbines to increase the capacity at its wind power project in southern Sindh province to 56.4 megawatts from 6 megawatts, the Manila- based ADB said in a statement on its website. The loan is for 12 years with a two-year grace period.

Expansion of the wind farm, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of Karachi, will cost $147 million and is expected to be completed by 2012.

The wind energy project will be financed with 30 percent equity from Zorlu Enerji. The remaining 70 percent will be financed through the dollar-denominated loans from the ADB, the International Finance Corp., and the ECO Trade and Development Bank, as well as a Pakistan rupee loan from Karachi-based Habib Bank Ltd., it said.

The wind power project will supply power to the national grid through a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pakistan’s National Transmission and Dispatch Company. Pakistan has set a 6 percent target of renewable energy by 2030. Zorlu Enerji’s project is Pakistan’s first privately owned and financed wind farm, the ADB said.

By Iqbal Mustafa, dailymailnews.com