Conergy partners with Ensunt for Pakistan’s largest solar plant

anoop | 10/06/2012 | 0 Comments

Conergy has joined forces with energy solutions provider and project developer Ensunt to set up a 50 MW solar power plant for the DACC Power Generation Company (DPGCL). The project will be the largest solar power plant in Pakistan.

The project in Bahawalpur, in the Cholistan region, is owned by DPGCL and the Pakistani Government. Conergy will provide the overall planning, engineering and design of the solar park. It will also be supplying its Germany-manufactured components for the project while Ensunt will carry out local implementation and construction.

Doug Melvin, President of DPGCL, said: “The 50 MW power plant is the biggest solar project for the Government of Pakistan. Currently, the region is heavily dependent on hydroelectric plants as an energy source. The results are high fluctuations in the energy supply, power outages or shortages. After a comprehensive comparison of products and capabilities, DPGCL and Ensunt decided in favor of Conergy for supplying all our needs.”

Marc Lohoff, Conergy Board Member and CSO Asia Pacific and Americas, said: “The potential in Pakistan is enormous: Currently, only 63% of the country’s total population is supplied with power. Due to the decentralised character of this form of energy and the high insolation levels, solar energy is ideally suited to close this gap and to supply the population with safe, clean and affordable energy. At the same time, solar power can support the economic development of the country.”

Once the power plant is completed, the 210,000 Conergy PowerPlus modules on some 210 kilometers of SolarLinea mounting systems will produce more than 78 GWh of clean energy per year. More than 140 Conergy IPG 300C central inverters will then feed the solar power into Pakistan’s grid, supplying 30,500 households with power.

Because of the shortage of power in Pakistan, parts of the country can occasionally be left without any energy supply for up to 18 hours a day. The Pakistan government has now responded to the situation by scrapping import duties on solar systems thus creating investment incentives for solar power plants.

With 8-9 hours of sunshine per day and annual insolation values of more than 1,700 kilowatt hours per square meter, the climatic conditions in Pakistan are ideal for solar power. The country’s government therefore hopes to achieve greater social and economic stability in the country through solar investment and a more stable energy supply.