FAISALABAD, Aug 27: A 3.8MW solar powered electricity generation plant worth more than Rs800 million has been installed at the Postgraduate Agricultural Research Station of the University of Agriculture here on Tuesday.

At a ceremony held here to inaugurate the plant that will start generation after about six months, UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmed said electricity to be produced from the foreign-funded project would cost Rs3.17 per unit on an average for the next 12 years.

He said the varsity would have solar greenhouses on 21 acres where five major off-season crops would be grown.

In his address on the occasion, Austria’s former defence minister Herbert Scheibner said his country would help Pakistan in overcoming its power crisis through alternative energy.

He stressed the need for enhancing collaborations between the two countries in various fields, including education, energy and agriculture.He said people in Austria preferred solar energy and many companies involved in manufacturing and installation of the related equipment were operating there successfully. — Staff Correspondent