The agreement incorporates a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by Sapphire Textile Mills Limited and under it GE will provide 87 GE 1.7-103 wind turbines to the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, Power China, for installation in the Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor in Jhimpir, Sindh, Pakistan. The high performance turbine should provide an increase of up to 30 percent in annual energy production compared to its predecessor, thanks to an increase in blade swept area that allows for greater energy capture and improved project economics.
GE has been actively providing advanced wind turbines for the development of wind power plants in the Jhimpir corridor in Thatta district, adding more power to the national grid and the new wind farm further underlines the tremendous potential of Pakistan in leveraging wind power.
“GE is committed to supporting the Pakistani government in meeting its goals of providing reliable power to improve the lives of the people of Pakistan” said Dr. Manar Al Moneef, CEO of Renewable Energy at GE Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “We want to increase and sustain Pakistan’s installed renewable energy capacity and annual wind additions. Wind power generation is an affordable & environmental-friendly solution, benefiting from a short implementation cycle delivering quick returns for the investment.”
Nadeem Abdullah, CEO of Sapphire Wind Power Company Limited, added that the company is setting up the largest wind project which will feed the Pakistani national grid benefiting all sections of the community – households, cities, villages and industries. Pakistan has tremendous potential for wind energy, which is competitive with other generation technologies while having zero emissions.
According to estimates by the US Agency for International Development and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pakistan has over 132 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity. The generation of clean wind energy also contributes to the goal of the Government of Pakistan under Vision 2025 to increase the percentage of indigenous sources of power generation to over 50 percent.
GE Renewable Energy is one of the world's leading wind turbine suppliers with more than 30,000 wind turbines installed globally. It is a long-term partner in supporting Pakistan’s socio-economic growth, and its technologies currently generate more than 25 percent of the country’s electricity.
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