Naveena Group’s $65-million wind power project begins operations

Naveena Group’s 50-megawatt (MW) wind power project, worth $65 million dollars and located at Jhimpir in Thatta, Sindh, has begun its commercial operations on April 13, 2022. The company will supply clean wind energy at 4.7 cents per unit. It is said that this development would make it the cheapest renewable energy supply in the country.

Jhimpir falls in the Gharo-Keti Bandar wind corridor, which is a 70x100 kilometer coastal stretch and has the capacity to generate up to 50,000 megawatts of electricity.

Back in 2019, Naveena, which also operates in the textile and construction sectors, announced that it had achieved financial close with the government of Pakistan for the project.

The recent investment comes amid increased interest on part of the government in the renewable energy sector, as Pakistan looks to make efforts to tackle climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. At present, coal, hydel, nuclear, gas, furnace oil and RLNG have a majority share in power generation.

Last year, Sindh Minister for energy Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh said that the provincial government is giving special priority to solar and wind power generation projects with a vision to improve the environment.

In February 2022, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a bid to counter climate change and enhance renewable energy generation, said it is providing financing worth Rs74 billion to over 1,175 projects under its refinance scheme. The projects have a combined capacity of 1,375MW, according to data available with Business Recorder.

Earlier this year, Ateeq ur Rehman, economic & financial analyst, said that for the sake of its socioeconomic development, Pakistan needs to encourage sustainable development in the field of renewable energy.

However, he pointed out that challenges include wind and solar projects getting expensive due to rise in the prices of the equipment, globally. Renewable energy is facing a big hit due to such international inflationary conditions, he added.

But he said that project developers should not get discouraged and the government should offer incentives like tax holidays.

“Companies working for wind and solar projects surely need encouragement by federal and provincial governments, which include cheaper land on wind and solar corridors,” he said.

As a group, Naveena has reached a benchmark sale of $300 million “dedicated to the business of progress and sustainability”. Established in 1971, the group’s global footprint extends across denim, spinning, property development, steel and power.