The US has again extended a hand of help to Pakistani government, by offering wind projects to help overcome energy crises. Thomas E. Williams, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in a meeting with General Electric (GE) talked about providing Pakistan with environment friendly electricity through wind projects which will add 1750MW of electricity by 2015.
Senior executives from General Electric – including GE’s Vice Chairman of the Board John Rice – and private sector wind developers in Islamabad, Deputy Chief of Mission Williams while meeting Pakistani government officials discussed about the positive approach of utilizing wind projects along with its other benefits including low operating and installation cost. “These wind projects are a positive example of a public-private partnership in the important field of renewable energy. The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government development bank, is in the process of negotiating long-term, low-interest financing with Sapphire Wind Power Company, Ltd. and has four other wind projects in various stages of financial review.” said William. The turbines will be provided by GE. A total of 30 projects will add 1750 MW of electricity to output out of which 5 projects will be financed by US and will add 250 MW. For the rest of 1500 MW produced by 25 projects, the monetary backing will be done with the help of the U.S. Agency for International Development plan.
Apart from this project, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission was also informed of the GE turbines currently operating in Sindh. GE delegation expressed their gratitude towards Pakistani government and said it expects the government to start the projects soon and fulfill the documentation required for financial closing of the projects.
