Source: China Economic Network
According to Pakistan's clean power generation targets, the share of electricity generated by renewables in the country will increase from the current 6% to 25% by 2025 and further to 30% by 2030. Chinese companies are bringing clean energy such as wind power to Pakistan, and the first and second phases of the Three Gorges Group's wind power projects in Pakistan have been put into operation.
Recently, we interviewed Sun Qiang, general manager of the Three Gorges Pakistan Wind Power Company in Karachi, Pakistan. The Pakistan Wind Power Phase II Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Pakistan Wind Phase II Project"), which he co-constructed, is not only the first greenfield investment project of the Three Gorges Group to be put into commercial operation under the framework of the "Belt and Road", but also one of the first batch of projects put into operation in the "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor" (CPEC).
In 2021, Sun Qiang was interviewed by China Economic Network. Image source: China Economic Network
New to Pakistan
In 2016, by chance, Sun Qiang saw the recruitment information of the Three Gorges Group in the second phase of the wind power project in Pakistan on the Internet. Sun Qiang said frankly that at that time, he still had a shallow understanding of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and only knew the "Belt and Road". After officially joining the company and completing the training on June 15, Sun Qiang set foot on the land of Pakistan on August 1 of the same year and began the preparations for the construction of the second phase of the Pakistani wind project.
Sun Qiang said bluntly that when the plane landed at Karachi Jinna Airport, he was shocked by the backward infrastructure of the airport, and there was no way to link it with the Eurasian transit station from Baidu a few decades ago. He was even more impressed by the M9 highway, pakistan's main highway, on the way from the airport to the project.
Sun Qiang recalled, "At that time, the highway was full of potholes, there were many road damage, and on the double-row two-lane road, the vehicle could only drive to 60 miles and 50 miles." From the highway down to the project site, it is a complete dirt road, no road, it feels like crossing the Gobi Desert, and then you can get to the project site. ”
But in the past five years, Sun Qiang said that through the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, whether it is an airport, or a highway, a road... Pakistan's infrastructure has changed dramatically.
"The highway is now a two-way six-lane road, brand new road, lots of traffic, fast transport. After coming down from the highway, there is also a new asphalt road that leads directly to our project site. Sun Qiang said with emotion, "Originally, it took me three hours to get from the airport to the project, and now I can arrive in an hour to an hour and a half!" ”
In 2017, when the Three Gorges Bafeng Project donated materials to surrounding villagers, Sun Qiang took a group photo with the villagers. Images courtesy of respondents.
Start from "zero" to build wind power
Advancing the construction of large-scale wind power projects in foreign countries is no easy task. Sun Qiang told us that when carrying out the construction of the first phase of the Pakistani wind power project, it was equivalent to starting from "zero", because there was no construction equipment in the Pakistani market at that time to meet the requirements of wind power construction, there was no reliable infrastructure material supplier, and even no experienced local labor force. In this case, they had to first bring a large number of materials, equipment and construction tools from the country.
"In this process, we talk to the suppliers little by little, so that they can improve the production process, production standards, and produce building materials that meet our construction requirements. At the same time, we have also trained a group of local workers with strong technical ability to enrich the project. Through the training of the Chinese team, the first phase of construction was finally completed. Sun Qiang recalled.
By the time of the second phase of wind power construction, with the introduction of facilities, talents and technologies, Pakistan's wind power market has been relatively mature. With the large-scale marketization of wind power projects, in the second phase of the project, the level of China-Pakistan energy cooperation in all aspects has been continuously improved, which has further promoted the benign development of the local electricity market.
Under the strategic guidance of "formation to sea" and the joint efforts of many parties, the current installed capacity of wind power projects has reached 150,000 kilowatts, with an average annual power generation capacity of about 430 million kilowatt hours, which can meet the electricity consumption of 1.5 million local households for about a year.
Three Gorges Bafeng Phase II project site. Image source: China Economic Network
Sun Qiang also introduced that the project site is a very poor and backward area of Karachi, and the investment in the wind power project has created a large number of local employment opportunities and effectively improved the living conditions of local villagers.
"The project created about 800 jobs at the peak of construction. Entering the operational period, the project still provides about 150 local jobs, including about 40 technical positions of the engineer type and about 110 service positions responsible for daily operations. Sun Qiang said.
Teach goodness like water, moisturize the world. "Through the successful construction and operation of the Pakistan Wind Project, we have also trained a large number of construction and operation professionals for the Pakistani wind power industry, and many local engineers who have participated in our phase I construction have become the backbone of other local investment wind power projects."
In 2018, the Three Gorges Bafeng Project donated new desks to local schools, and children are using the new desks to teach. Images courtesy of respondents.
The staff of China and Pakistan is a family
Pakistan is a Muslim country, and its cultural customs and living habits are quite different from those of China, which is somewhat inconvenient for Chinese employees working in Pakistan. But Sun Qiang told us that the friendliness and enthusiasm of the Pakistani employees made the employees of the two countries get along very well.
During the work in Pakistan, in addition to the company's weekly Urdu and Chinese teaching, every local holiday, Chinese and Pakistani employees will get together to hold some simple celebrations. Sun Qiang said that the most favorite chinese employees to participate in is the celebration with local folk characteristics.
"During the National Day of the two sides, especially during the peak period of project construction, many people from the Chinese and Pakistani teams were at the project site and could not take vacations, so we held a ceremony to raise the national flag and play the national anthem on the spot. We are all very proud to participate in such activities in a foreign country! I also deeply feel the solidity and depth of the friendship between China and Pakistan! ”
Pakistani employees were also impressed by their colleagues from China. Adil Ashraf, chief financial officer of the Three Gorges Pakistan Wind Power Company, said: "In fact, in my career, I have worked with people of different companies and different nationalities, including Europeans and Arabs, but working with Chinese is still different, especially the self-discipline of my Chinese colleagues has impressed me. ”
Adil Ashraf received the CPEC Outstanding Employee Award from the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan last year for his outstanding contributions to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. He said bluntly that this time working in Chinese companies has made him more focused and more detail-oriented.
Many of pakistan's employees involved in wind power projects have Chinese study backgrounds, and they are very supportive of the "Belt and Road" initiative, especially the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and they are proud to participate in these projects.
"The turnover rate of our local employees is very low, much lower than the average of similar companies." Sun Qiang said that at present, the company has achieved a considerable degree of localization, "the proportion of Employees in Pakistan has reached more than 80% of the company's employees, and many core departments are supervised, arranged and operated by Pakistani employees." ”
In 2020, the Three Gorges Bafeng Project distributed Eid food packages to villagers around the wind farm. Images courtesy of respondents.
Achieving "zero cases" during the pandemic
Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has broken out globally, undoubtedly bringing great challenges to the operation of wind power projects.
"I remember very clearly that on February 26, 2020, after the first confirmed case in Pakistan appeared, according to the designated epidemic prevention plan, all our Chinese team members were quickly transferred from the Karachi office to the project site office the next day. At the same time, our project site was immediately closed for management, the Karachi office was closed, and all Pakistani employees worked from home. Through Sun Qiang's statement, people can still clearly feel the tense atmosphere at that time.
Sun Qiang told us that because the epidemic had not yet been pandemic in Pakistan at that time, many local employees could not understand the seriousness of the epidemic, but he was very aware of the stakes, so he spent a lot of effort to explain the necessity of epidemic prevention policies with employees.
"With the full understanding and active cooperation of the staff, the project has not seen a single confirmed case so far, and there has been no downtime during the epidemic, ensuring the continuous supply of electricity."
In 2020, the Three Gorges Bafeng Project donated epidemic prevention materials to the Teda Regional Government. Images courtesy of respondents.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, Sun Qiang also talked to us about his expectations, "I hope that through the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, we can bring China's experience, Chinese equipment, and Chinese standards to Pakistan and make our own contributions to Pakistan's economic take-off." Pak-China friendship zindaba! (China Economic Network reporter Chen Lei)