50 MW in Pakistan: Conergy partners with Ensunt for largest park in the country

Hamburg | Bahawalpur: Conergy has joined forces with energy solutions provider and project developer Ensunt to realize a 50 megawatt solar power plant for the DACC Power Generation Company Limited (DPGCL). The project will be the largest solar power plant in Pakistan and one of the landmark projects in the entire Middle East and Indian region. The project in Bahawalpur, situated in the Cholistan region, is owned by DPGCL and the Pakistani Government, which have now taken on Conergy to provide the overall planning, engineering and design of the solar park. Conergy will also be supplying its premium “Made in Germany” components for this large-scale project. Ensunt will then provide the local implementation as well as the construction work on site.

 

The main aim of this project is to facilitate access to a supply of power for the Pakistani population and to make the country less vulnerable to power outages at the same time.

 

Doug Melvin, President of DPGCL, said: “The 50 megawatt 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. In response to requests from the President, the Prime Minister and his cabinet are working to prevent the shortage of energy, while providing a clean renewable energy source, sustainable economic development, and job creation in Pakistan.”

 

DPGCL and Ensunt have teamed up with Conergy to assist the Pakistan government to be responsive to the needs of the people and mitigate the power shortages throughout Pakistan.

 

“After a comprehensive comparison of products and capabilities, DPGCL and Ensunt decided in favor of Conergy for supplying all our needs.  We are even looking beyond these 50 megawatts. It is a great comfort to DPGCL and the Government of Pakistan to partner with a company such as Conergy as the sole source provider for our planning, design and component requirements in Pakistan. We are confident that the exceptional quality of Conergy components and their proven expertise will pay off in the long-term through a stable supply of power,” Doug Melvin added.

 

Marc Lohoff, Conergy Board Member and CSO Asia Pacific and Americas, said: “This prestigious project is a milestone for Conergy and the Asia & Middle East team. It shows that we are extremely well positioned in the Asian growth markets and that investors trust Conergy for important projects, especially those focusing on quality and longstanding experience. The potential in Pakistan is enormous: Currently, only 63 per cent of the country’s total population is supplied with power. Due to the decentralized 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.”

 

Dr. Philip Comberg, Conergy CEO, added: “We are very satisfied with the development of our business in the second quarter of 2012 so far. This project is another step forward in our interesting project pipeline for 2012. It underlines the relevance of the Asian solar markets, their growth potential and further reflects Conergy’s excellent market access, global footprint and ambitions in Asia. We took the right decision to focus on growth markets and we aim to increase our footprint not only in Asia but in the Americas as well.”

 

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 gigawatt hours 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. Besides private households, agriculture will also benefit from this power: for instance by using it to run water pumps to water fields and crops. A reliable power supply is further indispensable for maintaining the productivity of companies and of the economy.

 

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. This results in lower productivity, economic instability and social unrest. 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. 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. (Press Release 04.06.2012)