AKFED’s one MW solar power plant inaugurated in Hunza

HUNZA: A one-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant (SPP) with 600kWh battery storage was inaugurated in Hunza district of Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday.

NPak Energy Limited, a subsidiary of the Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), the industrial and infrastructure development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), commissioned the project. It sets a unique precedent as the first public private partnership (PPP) in Gilgit-Baltistan, producing clean energy and actively contributing to the global agenda to mitigate climate change, said a press release.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan other and representatives of the government as well as the local community leaders and NPak Energy management.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said, “The government of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) highly encourages clean and green energy solutions. We congratulate Aga Khan Development Network on commissioning the one MW solar power plant. We assure the communities that provincial government will focus on more renewable energy programmes to overcome the power shortages in Gilgit-Baltistan.”

He was accompanied by Provincial Minister for Planning and Development Raja Nasir Ali Khan, Advisor Information Eiman Shah, Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development Dilshad Bano, Secretary to Chief Minister Sanaullah, Secretary Water and Power Sajjad Haider, Secretary Works Sabtein Ahmed and other senior political and community leaders. 

One MW solar photovoltaic power plant inugurated in Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan by Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan. NPak Energy Limited of Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) commissioned the project, says a press release. pic.twitter.com/Vo8HoEbkHG

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This landmark project was financed and implemented by NPak Energy and is the first comparable scale, privately developed and operated SPP in Gilgit-Baltistan. The plant’s 2,376 photovoltaic panels at the altitude of 2,800m above the sea level started feeding power to the Hunza district grid.

It will produce 1,600 MWh per year of electricity from solar energy resources, which will power local households and businesses, addressing the acute energy deficit in Hunza district and avoiding approximately1,134 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent annually.

NPak Energy has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the government of Gilgit-Baltistan, which aims to develop sufficient generation capacity, business and utility operations, ensuring a self-sustaining supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity to every household in Hunza district.