The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has approved $288 million in funding for two enormous wind farm projects in Pakistan and Peru, projects the corporation’s Board says will deliver vital renewable energy security to both nations.
$193 million will go towards building a 114 MW wind farm on Peru’s Northwest Pacific coast – the first to be hooked into the nation’s electricity grid. New York-based power generation group ContourGlobal will arrange financing for the Talara and Cupisnique wind parks. Vestas Corporation is the general contractor for the project and is supplying 62 of their 1.8 MW V-100 wind turbines.
According to OPIC, Peru has excellent economic potential but has lacked investment in essential energy infrastructure, with installed capacity failing to meet the demands of an increasingly prosperous population.
“The provision of clean and reliable electricity is an essential building block of any economy,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth L. Littlefield. “The Board today affirmed OPIC’s commitment to support efforts by Pakistan and Peru to diversify their energy production to include important contributions from renewable energy sources.”
A further $95 million in OPIC funding will help build Pakistan’s Sapphire Wind Power plant, a 50-megawatt wind farm in the Ghoro-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor. Utilising General Electric wind turbines, the plant is designed to generate 133 gigawatt hours of emission-free power each year, and will support a US-Pakistan renewable energy pact to diversify Pakistani energy resources.
“The wind power projects will enable both countries to take advantage of their massive renewable energy potential to help meet unmet demand for electricity,” Ms. Littlefield continued. “We are thrilled to partner with innovative U.S. companies to bring these highly-developmental projects to realization.”
Citing figures from a study U.S. National Renewable Energy Agency (NREL) and the U.S. Agency for International Development, OPIC estimates Pakistan’s total available wind energy resources are “virtually equal to the world’s entire installed wind capacity for 2010.”
