Tricom Wind seeks licence for 50MW power project

KARACHI: Tricom Wind Power, a joint venture between Adamjee Group and Yunus Brothers Group, on Tuesday applied for a wind power generation licence for 50 megawatts project estimated to cost $88 million as the government is encouraging private investment in renewable energy sector.

An official document showed Tricom Wind Power approached the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority to seek generation licence for a 50MW wind power plant proposed to be set up in Jhimpir, Sindh. The project is estimated to cost $88 million, while the commissioning date is expected to be somewhere in 2020. The country’s leading business houses are opting towards renewable energy generation.

Tricom Wind Power’s sponsors are currently discussing financing options with various local and foreign banks.

Business conglomerate Yunus Brothers has already heavily invested in the energy sector with subsidiaries Yunus Energy Limited (50MW wind power project), Lucky Electric Power Company (660MW coal-fired power project under development stage), Yunus Wind Power Limited (50MW wind power plant under development) and Lucky Wind Power Limited (50MW wind power plant under development stage).

Adamjee Group is a leading business house and several of the group companies are traded on the bourse. This will be the group’s first investment in the energy generation sector.

Pakistan is largely under the influence of tropical desert climate. The thermal depression of South Asia and the monsoon winds shape up Pakistan’s southern coastal areas and northern mountain areas into a land rich in wind energy resources. The costal wind-energy-rich areas normally refer to southern Sindh and the vast plateau to the east and the northeast of Karachi city. The relative shortage of conventional energy resources in Pakistan and uncertainty in fuel prices worldwide spurred the Pakistan government to explore alternative sources, including wind power that has potential of 20,000MW across the provincial coastal line.

Government of Sindh has formulated a policy to encourage the participation of private sector in the development and application of renewable energies. The provincial government has established energy department to facilitate the implementation of renewable energy projects.

At present, 15 wind power projects of approximately 730MW are in operation. A total of nine projects with each having production capacity of 50MW, have achieved financial close and are under construction.