Feroze Power (Pvt) Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Maysun Solar to establish a solar panel production plant in Karachi. This initiative aims to boost local production of clean energy equipment in Pakistan, to increase renewable power generation while minimizing the impact on the country’s foreign currency reserves.
“One of the main objectives is to ensure the necessary transfer of technology for indigenous production of renewable energy equipment as a major step towards Pakistan achieving the stage of self-reliance in the power sector,” said FPL Chief Executive Officer, Sohail Feroze after signing the MoU.
He expressed optimism that the government of Pakistan would provide them with all the necessary incentives for setting up and operating the solar panel production facility.
He said that they were also firmly optimistic about getting maximum support from the Alternative Energy Development Board for setting up an assembly plant for solar panel production at such a wide scale for the first time in the country.
The FPL chief said that setting up the production plant was a major step towards achieving targets set by the government to enhance clean energy production in Pakistan.
He said the FPL’s new initiative would also help the government save its foreign currency reserves, otherwise massively spent on importing solar panels at a mass scale around the year.
He told the audience at the MoU signing ceremony that FPL stood firm to provide the best possible support to the government in its drive to reduce the carbon footprint of the power sector and ensure maximum tapping of indigenous sources of electricity.
“Whether it is the case of serving the consumers in the domestic, commercial, or industrial sectors or setting up utility-scale clean energy projects, the FPL has been doing its best to take maximum advantage of abundantly available solar power sources in every part of the country,” Feroze.
FPL Chief Operating Officer, Abdul Mateen Qureshi, said the solar manufacturing unit to be set up in any of the exclusive economic zones in or nearby Karachi would initially have an annual production capacity of 300 megawatts. He informed the audience that in the later stages, the production capacity of the plant would be scaled up to 1.2 gigawatts.
He said the new production facility was likely to generate employment opportunities for a 200- to 800 trained workforce.
Qureshi said that earlier FPL, as a leading EPC contractor in the Pakistani clean energy market, had helped several leading organisations in different sectors, including IBA, Karachi, and Hubco to set up solar systems to ensure maximum reliance on renewable power for energizing their core operations.
He said that FPL, after successfully serving several clients and participating in utility-scale projects in Pakistan’s south, had now started exploring the vast clean energy market in the north of Pakistan.
He informed the audience that another project initiated by the FPL in collaboration with international partners would enable power consumers in Pakistan having installed rooftop solar systems to earn carbon credits in return for their investment to help the country decrease its reliance on fossil fuels for power production.
Essa, Maysun Solar Country Director, assured the audience that his company would provide the fullest support to Pakistan to step up the transfer of technology drive to make it self-reliant in its clean energy needs.
He said that Pakistan having abundant clean energy sources, including wind and solar power, was an ideal market for foreign investors to help the country tap its vast renewable power potential.
He hoped that the partnership between FPL and Maysun Solar would go a long way in promoting the vital cause of indigenous production in the Pakistani clean energy sector.
