ISLAMABAD
Chief executive officer of Iran-Pakistan Wind Power Limited (IPWPL) says that the company has been granted a power generation license to build 50-megawatt wind power project in Sindh province.
In an interview on Tuesday Khurram Saeed said that the wind farm would be set up in Thatta area of the province with the cost of $100 million.
It is one of the first major steps to promote trade ties between Iran and Pakistan after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The two bordering countries signed an agreement in April 2017 to open commercial bank branches to conduct trade through formal channels.
According to Khurram Saeed the power regulator, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), has granted the power generation license to Iran-Pak Wind Power (Pvt) Limited (IPWPPL) for a 20-year period from the day it starts commercial operations.
He said that after the tariff of the electricity is finalized the company would start building the project which would take two years.
He said Pakistan is right now importing 75 MW electricity from Iran while the country has already announced its readiness to increase electricity exports to Pakistan respectively to 2000 and 3000 MW.
He said that signing of the agreement would open more avenues for cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector.
Khurram Saeed advised the government of Pakistan to focus more on importing electricity from Iran instead of investing huge amounts in building new power plants in the country which are costly.
The main sponsor of the IPWPPL project includes SUNIR (Iran Power & Water Equipment and Services Export Company) of Iran whereas the minority sponsors include the Planet Group and the Tufail Group of Pakistan.
SUNIR is an Iranian group company, constituted of 24 independent companies involved in the manufacturing of a wide range of different equipment and a rich experience of engineering services and consultancy in water and electricity industries.
Since its establishment in 1994, SUNIR has successfully performed a wide range of activities in more than 18 countries.
SUNIR first expressed interest to set up the wind power project in Pakistan in 2006. Later, it made huge efforts and spent the time to acquire the required piece of land in the wind corridor of Sindh.
