wiredinUSA September 2015

The chairman of the Pakistan atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Muhammad Naeem, has confirmed a government-set target of 40,000MW of electricity by 2050 to help resolve the electricity crisis in the country. “We are confident about achieving this target within the stipulated period, as all the requisite projects and plans are in place for this purpose,” he said. Muhammad Naeemwas speaking at the 13 th Convocation of the Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE), adjacent to the Karachi nuclear power plant (KANUPP). He added that PAEC is set to meet the target set by the government to produce 8,800MW of electricity by 2030. Naeem said that the PAEC has worked hard to enhance its role in power generation, adding that an immense contribution has been made to the country's nuclear program by the graduates of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) and Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE). Pakistan tackles power crisis

China’s solar expansion

Construction has begun on a 200MW solar energy project in China’s Gobi Desert. Once completed, the facility is expected to be the largest solar energy project in the country with a project area of 2,550 hectares. According to Qinghai Solar-Thermal Power Group, the Qinghai province facility is designed to produce enough electricity to supply up to one million regional households. The facility is of a “solar energy tower” design, thought to be more efficient than the more commonly used “solar trough” systems. Group board chair Wu Longyi commented: “Its designed heat storage is 15 hours, thus, it can guarantee stable, continual power generation.” The 200MW facility will be the country’s first large-scale solar project under commercial operation. China is aiming to grow to 100GW of solar capacity by the year 2020, up from around 28GW in 2014, but this represents only a fraction of China’s electricity generation capacity; fossil fuels remain dominant in the country.

wiredInUSA - September 2015

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