Gul Ahmed Electric Limited

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   IFC is considering investing up to US$12.9 million in the form of an A Loan and is mobilizing up to US$38.5 million equivalent in the form of parallel loans to Gul Ahmed Electric Limited (GEL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) incorporated under the laws of Pakistan. GEL is wholly owned by Gul Ahmed Energy Limited (GAEL), which is majority owned by individuals of the Gul Ahmed Group. The project comprises of the development, construction, and operation & maintenance of a 50 MW greenfield wind power project in Pakistan, in the Jhimpir wind corridor in the Sindh province (the Project). The project will be connected to the national grid and will enter into a 25-year Energy Purchase Agreement with the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G). The project will involve installation of 20 Goldwind 2.5 MW turbines. Each turbine will have a hub height of 90 m and a blade diameter of 121 m.  The project site falls within the Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor, which is located in the southwest of Sindh province and comprises two clusters of wind resource areas: Gharo, which is located near to the coast and the inland Jhimpir Wind Farm Region (JWR) located in the district of Thatta with, an approximate area of 157 km2.  Further information on other wind farms and potential for cumulative effects is presented in the PS 1 section below. The Government of Sindh has leased 150 ha (370 acres) of uninhabited government land to GEL on a 30-year basis. The landscape in the area is semi-arid and sparsely populated, with a few isolated villages located in the general vicinity but none within, or immediately next to, the project boundary. As a result, the project footprint avoids any need for resettlement and minimizes risks from shadow flicker or operational noise-related nuisance to local community members. The closest sensitive receptors are a cluster of 12 temporary houses located 750 m away from the nearest turbine; studies indicate that this group moved closer to the site recently to follow the rains, but is unlikely to remain in place for long. The nearest permanent settlement is located more than 2.5 km away. The company will develop internal access roads to service the turbines within the project site which will link to an access road system already established to serve other wind farms in the vicinity. Once built, the turbines and sub-station land will be fenced off to enhance safety and security; the rest of the site will remain open to local communities for periodic grazing activities.   Construction works will be carried out by Chinese EPC HydroChina, comprising a combination of PowerChina, Hydrochina International Engineering Company and Hangzhou Huachen Electric Power Control Company. HydroChina will also perform the role of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor will for the first two years together with turbine supplier Gamesa, after which a new O&M contractor will be appointed. It is expected that construction work will begin in 2020 and that the wind farm will take around 15 months to complete.  Wind turbines will be connected to a 132-kV high voltage switchyard in the power plant via a 22 kV underground electrical collection system. Electricity from the project will be transmitted from this switchyard to a National Transmission and Dispatch Company Limited (NTDC) transmission line that will serve multiple projects and be built by NTDC. The transmission line is not considered as an associated facility under Performance Standard 1 as it will be a shared line serving multiple (sixteen) other wind farm projects, of which IFC will be supporting six. Given the sparse population of the project area and the lack of significant biodiversity risks (refer to PS 6 section below), major E&S risks are not foreseen for the transmission line.