With the first phase of a 1 gigawatt (GW) solar PV park recently connected to the national grid of Pakistan, 100 MW of solar power capacity is now supplying the country with clean electricity. Not content to sit back and relax, phase two of Pakistan’s enterprising solar park is now underway.
Established and owned by the government of Punjab, Pakistan, the 1 GW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is located on 2,630 hectares (6,500 acres) of desert and is being run by private firm Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Company (QA Solar).
Phase One Is Up & Running
Announced recently, the first 100 MW phase of the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park has been connected to the grid in the state of Punjab, Pakistan. The pilot project of the 1 GW Solar Park located near Bahawalpur was officially inaugurated on April 20, 2015, in a ceremony attended by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President, Xi Jinping. Now the 100 MW solar power plant is officially up and running, supplying critically needed solar energy to the Muslim nation.
The completion of the QA Solar Park Phase 1 comes just weeks after the installation of a Yingli 1 MW solar PV array on the rooftop of Pakistan’s Parliament House, fully funded by the government of China.