GE has won a contract from Tricon Boston Consulting Private Limited (TBCPL) to supply and install turbines for a 150MW Pakistani wind project in Sindh province.

TBCPL is Sapphire Textile Mills’ Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which has been established for the provision and installation of the wind project.

The wind project, which will be built in the Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor in Jhimpir, will comprise three wind farms with each having a capacity of 50MW.

GE will supply  87 of its GE 1.7-103 line of wind turbines to Power China which is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor of the Pakistani wind project. As part of the contract, the American firm will also handle the operations and maintenance services for a period of 10 years.

GE Renewable Energy at Middle East, North Africa and Turkey CEO Dr. Manar Al Moneef said: “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.

“We want to increase and sustain Pakistan’s installed renewable energy capacity and annual wind additions.”

Construction activities have commenced for the 150MW wind project, which is slated to enter into commercial operations by September 2018. The wind project is expected to meet the power consumption needs of over 50,000 homes.

Sapphire Wind Power Company CEO Nadeem Abdullah said: “We are 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.”

The new wind project had reached a financial close in early May and is being financed by a consortium of global lenders featuring International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and DEG Germany.

Image: GE to install turbines for a 150MW wind project in Pakistan’s Jhimpir Corridor. Photo: courtesy of General Electric.