CM Shehbaz seeks more Chinese investment in Punjab's power and energy sectors

BEIJING - Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with National Energy Administration (NEA) delegation at Legendale Hotel Beijing Saturday, where he invited Chinese businessmen to invest in power and energy sector of the province.

Punjab is the biggest consumer of power and to bridge demand and supply gap of energy, the provincial government has started making immediate efforts and measures towards the development of new power generation facilities.

"These projects are based on Coal, R-LNG, Solar, Hydro and Wind," the chief minister told the NEA members.

"Punjab offers a conducive environment for investment in this region. This investment environment has increased local and international investors interest in Punjab, resulting in unprecedented increase of Punjab power project portfolio in the past three years," he added.



Presently, Punjab is facilitating development of private power projects (IPPs) and public power projects development with an aggregate capacity of more than 8,000 MW. "These projects have been based on diverse fuels and are at different stages of development", the CM stated.

He further said that a number of projects are included in the priority list of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). These include 1,320-MW Sahiwal Coal Fired Power Plant (CFPP), 660-MW Muzaffargarh CFPP, 1,320-MW RahimYar Khan CFPP, 660-MW Rahim Yar Khan CFPP, and 1,000-MW Quaid e Azam Solar Power Park.

Chinese financing institutes have assured project financing for these projects.

The Punjab Government has also initiated a number of off-grid solar power solutions to provide immediate relief to the electricity consumers. "The Chief Minister Ujala Programme is to provide solar home solutions to the unprivileged households, while solarisation of government offices, solarisation of 20,000 public schools in Punjab and solar solution of Basic Health Units in Punjab are examples of off-grid solar initiatives," Shehbaz explained.

According to the CM, Punjab is already working with many Chinese companies for development of energy projects in the province. "We welcome more Chinese investment in Punjab power sector through facilitation by NEA," he concluded.