Aga Khan Fund commissions power plant in Gilgit Baltistan

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) on Friday announced that it has commissioned a 1 MW Solar Photovoltaic Plant (SPP) with 600 kWh battery storage in Hunza district of Gilgit Baltistan.

The project sets a unique precedent as the first public-private partnership (PPP) in Gilgit Baltistan, generating clean energy and actively contributing to the global climate change mitigation agenda.

The inauguration ceremony of the project was attended by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Haji Gulbar Khan and other government representatives as well as local community leaders.

CM Khan said that his province encourages clean and green energy solutions while congratulating AKFED for commissioning the power plant.

“We are assuring the communities that the provincial government will focus on more renewable energy projects to overcome the electricity shortages in Gilgit-Baltistan,” the chief minister said.

He was accompanied by Provincial Minister for Planning and Development Raja Nasir Ali Khan, Information Adviser Eiman Shah, Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Women’s Development Dilshad Bano, Secretary to Chief Minister Sana Ullah, Secretary Water and Power Sajjad Haider, Secretary Works Sabtein Ahmed and other senior political and community leaders.

The 2,376 photovoltaic panels of the factory at an altitude of 2,800 meters above sea level, began to supply electricity to the network of the Hunza region. It will generate 1,600 MWh of electricity annually from solar energy resources, which will power local households and businesses, addressing the acute energy deficit in the Hunza region and avoiding approximately 1,134 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

The UK Government has signed a 30-year concession agreement to develop sufficient generation, business and utility capacity, ensuring a self-sustaining supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity to every household in the Hunza region.