By Janine Voigt, Managing Director, PowerOneForOne Foundation

Due to constant economic and population growth, Pakistan is confronted with an increasing energy demand that cannot be met by the current energy supply. Pakistan is mainly dependent on fossil fuels, especially diesel generators, for power generation, which is associated with frequent power cuts and bottlenecks in the power grid. Rural areas, however, often have no access to electricity at all.
 

The Pakistani government has announced its support for renewable energies, especially the use of photovoltaics and small hydro and wind power plants. Renewable energies are cheaper than fossil fuels after the initial investment and also offer smaller companies and private households in remote regions the possibility of a reliable energy source through small solar home systems. 
The Clean Power Purchasing Development Project Pakistan is a joint venture of aream and Power One for One. This development partnership is part of the develoPPP.de program, which is managed by the German Association for International Cooperation GIZ.
 

The aim of the project is to promote and transfer technical know-how on the planning, operation and maintenance of solar energy projects in the private sector in Pakistan. It is a pilot project which we hope will open up the opening of systematic energy industry in Pakistan according to international standards. Within the framework of this project, we support the introduction of clean energy projects as a reliable and cost-efficient source, and we would like to offer the generated energy to national and multinational companies in the form of Power Purchasing Agreements (PPA) and other contracts.
 
We focus on four main areas of intervention:

• Installation of a PV system for commercial and educational purposes in the form of a pilot project
• Training of 10 trainers and 100 technicians
• Promotion of purchase contracts in the private sector
• Sensitization about the use of solar energy

 
We have now successfully implemented the first step. We are pleased to announce the construction of a solar plant in Lahore, Pakistan, which was donated by the PowerOneForOne Foundation gGmbH. The plant is located on the roof of the TEVTA training center. The Clean Power Purchasing Development Project has a total budget of 800,000 EUR and a project duration of 3 years.