ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson has signed four grants of over $2.3 million to fund projects for establishing private companies in the energy and transport sector in Pakistan.

The United States support will link these companies with leading American firms providing technological and business solutions. The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will fund and implement the grants.

At the signing ceremony held on Tuesday, Ambassador Patterson said “Pakistan`s critical infrastructure challenges in energy and transportation are major impediments to many other areas of economic growth in the country.”

“The grant agreements will help create public-private partnerships in energy and transportation modernization in Pakistan”.

She said these sectors offered great potential to support Pakistan`s economic growth and the US industry was best positioned to play a pivotal role.

Under the Gharo Corridor 50 MW Wind Project Feasibility Study an amount of US $592,465 would be provided to Engro PowerGen Private Limited.

Engro is committed to developing 500 MW of wind power in Pakistan and the study will help determine whether wind power is a viable option to reduce country`s reliance on fossil fuel imports.

US support will evaluate the technical, economic, and financial viability of a 50MW wind power project at a coastal site in the Gharo Corridor, west of Karachi.

Under the Smart Grid and Distribution Modernization Feasibility Study an amount of US $510,475 will be provided to Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (KESC). The KESC suffers from high electricity losses, as much as 40 percent or roughly 1,000 MW, and has requested the feasibility study funding to determine the viability of an integrated smart grid system in Karachi.

The study recommendations will help reduce electricity losses and improve the efficiency of KESCs utility operations. -APP