The Sachal wind farm project in Pakistan, funded by ICBC, has been recently completed and put into operation after various reliability tests. The Sachal wind farm project is the first project with signed loan agreement under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is also one of the 14 energy cooperation projects with priority under the CPEC. Its operation has showcased the progress of the CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 49.5-megawatt Sachal wind farm project comprises 33 1.5-megawatt wind turbine generators manufactured by China. It is invested by Sachal Energy Development (Pvt) Ltd (SEDPL), and constructed and maintained by PowerChina. ICBC and SEDPL signed a loan agreement for the Sachal wind farm project in Beijing on February 15, 2015. On April 20, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan, the project had an inauguration ceremony under the witness of Chinese and Pakistani leaders. The project commenced commercial operation in the first half of 2017. Thanks to its financial product line in global power along with extensive experience in overseas investment and financing, ICBC pushed forward the approval and contracting of the project, closed the financing and drawdown to ensure smooth transfer through efficient coordination among the Head Office, Beijing Branch and Karachi Branch as long as cooperation with China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE). Raising funds up to 100 million US dollars, the project is the first private new energy loan project in Pakistan undertaken by SINOSURE, and is also the first project completing loan signing during the construction of CPEC.

Pakistan has significant shortage in power, with an average daily power deficit at 4 million kilowatt nationwide and a daily power deficit during the summer peak season at 7.5 million kilowatt, which has become the bottleneck of economic growth. Therefore, Pakistan hopes to increase power supply and improve energy structure using its wind and water resources. ICBC’s strong support to new energy project under the CPEC not only adds supply of clean energy to Pakistan’s power grid, but also creates jobs for local people.