On September 20, the ground breaking ceremony of the Sapphire wind power project, an EPC project undertaken by HYDROCHINA ( a member company of POWERCHINA ) in Pakistan, was held at the project site.
Sapphire Wind Power Project is located in Jhimpir District, Thatta County, Sindh Province in eastern Pakistan, about 120km northeast of Karachi. With a total installed capacity of 49.5MW, the project will be equipped with thirty-three 1.5 MW wind turbine generator systems. POWERCHINA has undertaken this project on an EPC basis and the work scope includes an engineering survey and design for the wind farm, equipment supply, construction of civil works, installation, debugging, commissioning, two-year operations and maintenance.
POWERCHINA signed the official contract with the project owner as early as September 2012. In the past two years, POWERCHINA has made efforts to assist the project owner in completing relevant approval and financing procedures, and the project construction has finally officially commenced. The project is the fourth wind power project since the implementation of the Pakistani 2005 New Energy Law, and the first project developed with a fixed tariff. The implementation of this Project will enable POWERCHINA to gain experience in successful development of subsequent wind power projects in Pakistan.
