Three Multilateral Financial Institutions Will Collaborate to Loan Money to Help Fund the First Private Wind Farm in Pakistan

Sources:
Associated Press of Pakistan: IFC Supports Landmark Wind Power Project in Pakistan
Bloomerg: Zorul Gets $111 Million Loan for Pakistan Wind-Power Project
Business Recorder: ADB Boosts Pakistan's Wind Power Capacity

The International Finance Corp (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the ECO Trade and Development Bank (ECO) are providing loans of $38.1 million, $36.8 million, and $20 million, respectively, to a company named Zorlu Enerji Electrik Uretim (Zorlu) to expand its wind power generation plant in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near the border with India. Zorlu will use the funding to install additional wind turbines and increase the facility’s electricity capacity from 6 megawatts (MW) to 56.4 MW. The Zorlu project will be the first internationally financed wind power facility in Pakistan and one of the first two wind power projects to operate commercially in Pakistan.

Zorlu’s total cost for the wind expansion project is $147 million. In addition to the amounts supplies by the ADB, ITC, and ECO, Zorlu will supply $35.9 million and Pakistani bank Habib will loan the remaining $16.2 million.

Increased wind power generation is important in Pakistan because the country’s demand for electricity has increased by 40% over the last five years while production has been unable to keep up. Pakistan’s lack of electricity has resulted in brownouts (the partial loss of electricity) in all major urban centers, electricity rationing, and early closing times for businesses, all of which undermine the country’s economy. To combat these problems, the Pakistani government is pushing to expand its energy resources, which includes increasing wind power generation.

The wind project will also help reduce Pakistan’s reliance on imported fossil fuel for the majority of its energy needs, which is very costly and leaves the country vulnerable to changes in global price. The ADB believes that Zorlu’s additional wind output will provide Pakistan with much needed electricity while also increasing the country’s energy security and lowering its reliance on fossil fuels. The IFC hopes that its investment in the Zorlu project will stimulate other international investors to invest in wind power within Pakistan which will stimulate and strengthen the Pakistani economy.